Learning Eight
by Aelinn
Summary: My continuation of Seven Up, so spoilers up until that book, and perhaps a few for others. Rating for sex.
1. Part 1

Learning Eight

**Prologue**

_'DeChooch is fine, but _we_ have unfinished business.'_

My swallow was audible across the room. I know, because Ranger smirked. He knew full well I was scared of this. Apparently he didn't care.

'I care, Babe.' His words were soft, floating over on the breeze from the window. I sat up, hugging the covers to my chest so that he wouldn't see just how much his presence affected me. Unfortunately, I knew the action was pointless. He knew anyway.

'Then explain to me why you're doing this,' I asked, hoping I didn't sound too breathless. Ranger's smirk widened into a smile, one of those that's full of watts and turns my insides to mush. Very happy mush, but mush all the same.

'Because I don't think I can wait any longer,' he said, amusement clear in his voice; although there was an undercurrent of something more serious. I couldn't pinpoint what it was. I always did amuse him, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised at it. I shivered. I had always wanted Ranger. Any woman would. And I had always failed to understand why _he_ would want _me_.

My wanting him did nothing to diminish the fear, however. I didn't know precisely why I was scared, or precisely what I was scared _of_. I wasn't scared of Ranger. More, I thought, of what he could do to me. I knew he'd never hurt me; at least not physically. Looking at him standing there, so calmly watching me think, I realised that it was me I was scared of. Of what he might make me feel. Of how he might hurt me emotionally.

I love Joe. I probably always will. I've loved him since I was six and he'd taken me into his father's garage to play choo choo. I knew that I didn't want to marry him. He's Burg and for the last few years I'd been fighting with everything I had to escape the Burg. Of course I hadn't really realised it at the time.

Ranger was everything the Burg wasn't. I knew he'd had a hard past. I knew he'd 'used to everything'. I knew he'd killed people. I knew he had a daughter and an ex-wife, something you would very rarely find in the Burg. And I was more attracted to him right now than I ever had been to Joe. Or anyone else, for that matter.

I assumed Ranger knew exactly what I was thinking. He _is_ the master of ESP. I also assumed it wouldn't bother him very much. That's not to say he would dismiss it, just that probably it wouldn't affect what he was going to do with me. I looked up suddenly as Ranger sighed, and actually scrubbed a hand over his face.

'Babe.' He paused. 'I won't make you do this if you don't want to. I've never made you do something you haven't wanted to – unless there was a very good reason – and I won't.' I knew that. 'I want this. But I won't take it if you don't want me to.' From Ranger, the admission that he wanted this was a big one. He was into the whole Batman-mystery shit. Way into it.

'I want this,' I whispered. Ranger smiled, dry and humourless.

'No. Your body wants this. Will you still want this when you wake up in the morning, wrapped in my arms?' That was a very scary thought. Waking up to Batman. It also, I have to admit, sent a delicious thrill of anticipation and excitement through me.

When I was little, I'd jumped off my garage roof after deciding I wanted to be Wonder Woman in an effort to fly. I remembered it perfectly. The leap, the rushing air, the indescribable sense of floating, being airborne, unsupported. The fear that it wouldn't work, that somehow I would fall.

I had fallen, of course. But for that instant before I had, I'd felt unreasonable, uncontainable joy. I suspected this might be a lot like that experience. I feared now that, wonderful, amazing and mind-blowing as it was sure to be, sleeping with Ranger would open me to feelings I didn't want to acknowledge. I also knew it could be a good thing, like trying to fly had been. I'd learned from it, learned that I wasn't Wonder Woman. But it had never stopped me continuing to try to be her. And someday, I knew, I would get there. I still believe that.

I knew that I wanted Ranger for his body; I wasn't dead. I knew I trusted him implicitly with my life. But by asking me this, he was also asking me to trust him with my heart. Not completely, or not yet. But I still had to trust him in that way. Did I? Could I? _There is a quality to Ranger that instills trust…_ My earlier thought drifted through my mind. Yes, I found, I could. And did.

'Yes. Yes, I will.' The words had no sound to them, tiny sighs of air stirred by my mouth. I watched Ranger as he heard them, time seeming to slow as he listened to what I'd said. His expression didn't change, but all of a sudden, a tension I hadn't even noticed flooded out of him and he visibly relaxed.

He walked over to my bed, peeling his t-shirt off and dropping it carelessly on my floor. I watched in fascination as his muscles rippled and flexed. I knew he was a beautiful man, but the reality far outclassed any amount of imagination. His belt followed his shirt to the floor just before he sat on my bed.

'Are you absolutely sure, Babe? No second thoughts, no regrets, ever.' A single finger traced the line of my cheek. I nodded, my mouth too dry to speak, glad that my period had ended that morning. The corners of Ranger's mouth tipped up, a hint of amusement in his dark eyes. I looked up at him, and wondered just how well I knew him. Then I realised I knew everything that really mattered.

I knew he had a strict ethical code even if it was sometimes a little strange; it made sense to him. I knew he could be trusted. I knew he wouldn't hurt me. Everything else was just detail; not needed here, now.

Ranger's fingertip dragged over my lower lip, pulling it open slightly. I darted my tongue out to taste him, expecting some kind of a reaction from him. I was rewarded with a catch in his breathing for my efforts, but it was me who moaned at the pure sweetness of his smooth skin.

Ranger pulled his finger back and laid his palm against my cheek. His heat burned into me, and my eyes fluttered closed. No matter how many times I'd imagined this, how many different ways I'd thought of it happening, all the different ways I might react to him, my imaginings had shit on the reality.

I nearly jerked in surprise when I felt his lips gently brush mine. It must have been a subconscious desire not to miss out on the experience that kept me where I was. It was a feather-light touch, barely there, yet it sent heat spiraling slowly through my belly. I needed Ranger. Needed him like I needed oxygen. Possibly _more_ than I needed oxygen at the moment.

I brought my hands forward and laid them on his shoulders. His skin was smooth, and hot, and covered muscles that were rock-hard, yet twitched and jumped under my fingers. Wanting to explore that response, I slid my fingers down, over the ridges of his chest, down to the muscles of his stomach. Christ, the man had more muscles than I had thought it was possible to have.

Ranger groaned as I slid my fingers back up and tentatively searched for his nipples. When I found them, I was suddenly on my back beneath him, his mouth hard and hot over mine, demanding, taking, almost without thought for me. I didn't care. His kiss was drugging, pulling me into a state of prolonged bliss that I couldn't seem to summon the will to leave. Not that I particularly wanted to. It felt too damn nice for that. In fact, I very much wanted to stay exactly where I was. Although, I wouldn't complain if he decided to get rid of a few more annoying and unnecessary barriers between us. Like clothes.

As if he'd read my mind, which, I reflected, he might very well have done, his hands were at my waist, tugging my shirt up. I raised my arms to let him pull it over my head, arching my back to press my breasts to his chest when I was free of the constraining material. I moaned as his heat pressed into me, then his weight as he lowered himself slowly. It was indescribable pleasure and I'd never experienced anything like it.

He shifted half to one side, leaning his weight on one hand. His other rested against my cheek and he kissed me, invading my mouth even as my body silently begged for more. His ESP was obviously working, because the hand on my face slid down my neck, over my collarbone, and then gently, softly, cupped one breast.

I arched into his hand, needing more than he was currently giving, exquisite as it was. Ranger complied, gently molding his fingers and then my breast, drawing breathy whimpers out of me. His lips had slid along my jaw to my ear, and he drew his teeth across my earlobe, tugging it gently. Ears are incredibly sensitive, I discovered with a moan.

'You like this, Babe?' he breathed in my ear, his fingers rolling my nipple. I couldn't answer. I had neither breath nor voice. A soft sigh was the only answer he was going to get until normal bodily functions returned. Which wouldn't happen until he was in the next room, and possibly not for a while after that, the state I was in right now.

Ranger's mouth moved down my throat, his teeth scraping gently, pausing to suck a little skin into his mouth. I sank back into the bed, but arched almost immediately as he bit the pulse point on my neck. I felt his lips curl into a smile as he sucked harder, my breathless moan sounding deep in my throat. Ranger backed off after a moment and returned to my mouth for a hard, hot kiss. I reached my hand up and dragged his head nearer, sliding my other hand down his back to his ass, pulling his hips towards mine.

That was all it took. Ranger left me completely, pulling back to rise to his knees. He dragged his combats off and dropped them over the side of the bed, then dropped himself on top of me. I still had my panties on, but may as well not for all the difference it made right then. He was touching me in one long, unbroken line all down my body, his heat and weight pressing into me, and all I wanted was _more_.

Ranger's lips traced down my throat, over my collarbone, until he hovered, breathing gently against my skin, above the side of my breast. I pushed upwards towards him, needing his touch, his mouth, and he complied. He kissed the soft flesh, opened his mouth over it and his tongue swept out, taking a huge lick of me like I was the tastiest thing he'd ever had. He moved back to the side, his mouth still open, and sucked sharply. I moaned and cupped his head, pressing him harder against me as he continued to suck, his teeth set very gently against me.

I gasped when he suddenly left me, but forgot my disappointment as he moved to hover over one nipple. I arched into him, needing his mouth again, aching for him. It took a second for him to open his mouth over me and suck my nipple between his teeth. He bit down gently and I cried out, my hands fisting in his hair to keep him there.

Completely ignoring my attempts to restrain him, he moved over to my other nipple, scraping it with his teeth before sucking it sharply into his wet, hot mouth. His hands rested on my hips, holding me still on the bed as I tried to twitch and twist. He drew back slowly and looked at me, my eyes heavy lidded and glazed, barely able to focus on him. The corners of his mouth tipped up and he kissed me, hard, briefly.

When he backed off this time he didn't stop to study me. His lips passed between my breasts and over my stomach, pausing to tongue my navel. I arched into his face, pushing him back a little, before I sank back into the bed. While I was still boneless, he nudged my legs apart and kissed that crease between them and my body. He lifted his mouth for a moment to allow his fingers to grab my panties and pull them down before replacing it. Again, he sucked sharply, drawing part of me deep into his mouth and probably leaving his mark there. I was way too far gone to care, and it wasn't like it would be visible unless I was wearing a bathing suit anyway.

He spread the fingers of both hands on my thighs, thumbs to the inside. He slid them slowly up, pressing gently. I tried to writhe, but his hands held me still. Then his thumbs spread me wide, and his lips were on _that spot_. I whimpered and moaned and begged, incoherently, not knowing what I wanted, just that what I had wasn't enough.

Answering my pleas, he plunged two fingers deep inside me, dragging a hoarse cry from my throat. I thought I heard him groan beneath my cries, then knew I had as the vibrations passed from his lips into me. I twisted, the sensations overwhelming me, wishing he would stop but craving more of his attentions.

His fingers started to move, twisting inside of me, rubbing a spot that had me bucking wildly against him as I came, nearly sobbing. By the time I was once again aware of the world Ranger had moved up to cover me, waiting until I was ready. His hands framed my sweaty face and he kissed me tenderly.

'You are on the pill, aren't you Babe?' he asked softly. I could only nod. I looked up at him, and at the moment I met his eyes, he plunged into me. I screamed, not quite ready for it, for the intense pleasure of it. My eyes closed and Ranger filled me, unmoving.

'Babe, look at me.' I opened my eyes slowly, trying to focus on him. When I had, he began to move. He settled into a rhythm that I easily matched, rising to meet him, twisting against him. I moaned as one hand found my breast and caressed it for a moment, then slid further down, until he found _that spot_ with his fingers, rubbing until I screamed as I came, his name echoing around the room.

He sped up, thrusting fast and hard, short and sharp. I was still coming down and hadn't come far when he came, spilling into me, hot and sweet, my name whispered on his lips. The sound and the sensations made me come again, more softly, gently, and I wrapped my arms around him as we both collapsed.

After some minutes, his breathing had returned to normal and he rolled off me, pulling out gently. I sighed, not wanting to lose the intimate contact. I was exhausted. The day had been long and tiring, and then emotionally wearing. I hadn't been wrong when I'd thought that sleeping with Ranger would open the floodgates on emotions I'd rather not acknowledge.

I rolled over onto my side, putting my back against Ranger. He made a nice heater. I couldn't help but imagine being in bed with him on a cold winter's night, him holding me close, keeping me warm. It made me shiver.

'Shh, Babe. Just go to sleep,' he whispered against my ear. And he began to murmur to me in Spanish. It didn't take long before I dropped into sleep. A mumbled, 'I think I love you,' escaped just before I did.

**Chapter One**

_(Ranger's POV)_

I wrapped my arms around Steph as she nestled back against me. I refused to acknowledge the thoughts clamouring to be heard and instead concentrated on the feeling of holding Steph close to me. She was warm and soft and felt good against my hard body. She shivered in my arms.

'Shh, Babe. Just go to sleep,' I whispered. 'Sientes tan bueno a mi lado,' I continued softly, 'no sabes cómo siento para ti. Te quiero, Babe, tú eres mi vida. Tienes mi corazón para siempre y siempre.' I knew she wouldn't understand what I was saying; otherwise I never would have said it. And yet, from what she murmured just as she fell into sleep, it almost seemed as if she did understand.

'I think I love you.'

I lay awake for a long time thinking about that. Was it true? Did she mean it? In what way? Did she consciously know it? Was she ready to accept it? Was she ready to accept me? Could I handle it? Could I keep her safe? I didn't know the answer to any of the questions, but I did know that having a relationship with Steph would put her in a lot more danger than she ever got in on her own. I couldn't do that to her.

I woke her and made love to her again, scattering my thoughts. She was so perfect and she didn't even know it. I knew she wasn't happy with her body; always wanting to lose those ten pounds she imagined or wishing she was a cup size bigger. She'd never know just how much I loved it, just how perfect I thought it was.

She'd never know just how perfect I thought _she_ was. Ever since she'd walked into that café a year and a half ago, I had wanted her. At first it had been nothing more than that, than a man wanting a beautiful woman. But then I found myself taking care of her, helping her more than I really needed to. Jesus, when I'd rescued her from that shower rod… She'd never know just how hard it had been for me to leave her after seeing her like that. Gradually we'd gotten closer. And then Morelli came along.

I had never been the type to get jealous. But when I saw her with Morelli, I was unreasonably jealous. I hid it even from myself, but it was there. Then I went FTA. And Steph's first call was simply 'Are you ok?' No doubt, no questions, just concern. It was that call that made me realise just how much I loved her, and that maybe, there could be something in return. Despite the cop, despite the many differences that separated us, there might still be something.

It was still dark when I woke. I'd only had perhaps a half hour of sleep, but I didn't need much. I was stretched in an unfamiliar bed, completely naked, with a warm body curled into mine. My legs tangled with hers, her back against my chest and one arm wrapped around her waist, cupping her breast. I was already hard again. Christ, I've never wanted any woman as much as I did Steph.

Last night had possibly been the biggest mistake I'd ever made. Don't get me wrong, Stephanie was fantastic in bed; I'd known she would be. But the whole idea of sleeping with her had been to get her out of my head, to satisfy the craving and forget about her. To be able to leave her alone so I didn't put her in any more danger. When I'd thought that one night with her could do that, I'd never been more wrong.

No matter how much I might want to be, I couldn't be with Stephanie. It wasn't that I didn't want to be, it was just that there were far too many people out there who would use any serious relationship I had to hurt me, and I couldn't let her get hurt, especially not because of me.

The only thing I wanted to do right now was wake her up and make love to her again, but that wasn't going to help. I didn't think I'd ever woken up wanting a woman. I suppressed a sigh and began to slowly untangle us. I slipped out of her bed and dressed quickly, knowing I needed to leave before she woke up. Knowing Steph, however, that could take a while.

I did a quick search and found a piece of paper and a pen. In twenty minutes, after five screwed-up attempts, I had a letter to leave her. I propped it against Rex's cage on the counter, gathered my failed attempts, and left her apartment.

I got into my truck, tossed the paper in the back and started the engine. I drove straight to my home, packed a small bag, shredded my discarded letters so that no one could read them and got into a personal car that Tank couldn't track; a midnight blue convertible Mercedes. I could just imagine Steph's face if she ever saw me driving it.

I pulled onto an interstate heading west. Tank would expect me to go south, back to Miami where we grew up. Lester would either expect that, or that I'd go north and visit my daughter. No one would expect me to go west. There was nothing out there for me except space and distance.

I couldn't really explain it – and I wasn't sure I wanted to – but I needed to get away from Trenton for a while, get away from everyone who knew me. I knew that I wasn't the easiest person to read, but I also knew that people close to me could read my actions if not my face. And I didn't want to explain their interpretations of my actions regarding Steph.

I spent the entire day just driving. I stopped at a couple of diners for food and slipped into what I knew Steph called my 'zone'. Usually, I use this for thinking, but today I didn't want to think, so I just drove, keeping my mind a careful blank.

I called Tank's office in the middle of the night so I could just leave him a voice mail without talking to him. I told him to keep an eye on Steph, help her out of trouble and use her for more distractions. I also left him in control of RangeMan until I was in control of myself and decided to return. I didn't tell him that last bit.

**Chapter Two**

I lost count of the number of times he woke me up during the night to make love to me over and over again. I realised at some point, however, that we _were_ making love, not having sex. I filed the thought away for later contemplation, not wanting to complicate the moment, and gave myself up to the sensations.

When I finally woke in the morning, memory took a while to surface, though I was sure I was missing something. The stiffness as I stretched caused it to return with a jolt. Holy shit, I'd slept with Batman! I turned over and looked at the empty hollow in the bed where his body had been. If I tried really hard, I could still smell him on the pillow. I love the way he smells.

I stretched again, and decided I really didn't want to get up. But I did want to know where Ranger had gotten to. So I pulled myself out of bed and dragged some sweatpants and a shirt on, and went investigating.

I looked all through my apartment, and except for a lingering scent in the air, the cold hollow in the bed and a note, I couldn't find any evidence of his having been here whatsoever. I shivered as I realised I was quite alone. A sense of betrayal welled up; I'd trusted Ranger with my heart, to some extent, and he hadn't proved himself worthy of that trust. Then I got really angry with him. And then, to complete the spectrum, I got sad. And disappointed. And a few other things. I decided to read the note and see if he explained himself.

_Babe,_

_I'm sorry but I have to leave; I can't tell you why. I realise that I'm never going to be able to give you what you want, what you need or what you deserve so just go back to Morelli he loves you. My life isn't exactly in a place where I could pursue a serious relationship right now, it doesn't lend itself to them and it wouldn't be fair to you. I don't regret what happened, but I do wonder if it might be better for both of us if it hadn't. I'm sorry I can't explain everything as clearly as I know you'd like. I don't know when I'll be back._

_Since I won't be there, Vinnie is likely to give you some of my skips. I'll make sure some of them are covered, but I don't want you to hesitate to call Tank – or any of the RangeMan guys – to help you. I put their numbers in your phone – it would be a good idea if you didn't let anyone else have them, not for your sake, but my men's. All of my resources are available to you if you want to use them. You have a truck if you want it. I'm also going to tell the guys to ask you to do more distractions, but I only want you to accept them if you're comfortable with it._

_Know that I didn't want it to be like this._

Ric 

Well, that was just fucking wonderful. I've obviously scared him off. That was a completely crap explanation. He can't even say why he's leaving! I know it might be some top-secret government thing, but couldn't he give me some indication that that's what it is? I mean, he has done in the past. But no, he can't even offer a sorry excuse for the reason.

And then he tells me to go back to Morelli because he can't give me what I want, need and deserve! How the hell does he know what I want anyway? The only good thing that I could see was that I'd be getting more work. Problem was, I wasn't sure how much I wanted it.

Shit, I could feel tears coming. I tossed the note on the counter and dragged myself into the shower to let the hot water wash the tears away, wash the stiffness away, and attempt to wash the memory of last night away. Too bad it was unsuccessful in that last one. I was pretty sure I'd never forget last night.

When I got out of the shower, I decided I wasn't going to do anything today. Vinnie had left a message last night saying that I had two days to recover and then he expected me back at work. I would give cursory calls to those who needed them to tell them I was alive, and then I was going to ignore the world for two days.

All my calls were brief. I left my mother to last so that I could legitimately use the excuse that I still needed to call her on everyone else. I called Connie, Lula and Mary Lou. They weren't exactly happy with me, but they'd deal with it. I told my mother I was taking some time off and I'd be round for dinner in a couple of days and escaped.

If I was going to spend the day vegging out in front of the TV, I needed supplies. I dressed quickly in jeans and a t-shirt, not bothering with styling my hair, just shoving it into a ponytail. I swiped one coat of mascara on, decided that would do, and grabbed my purse and a jacket.

At the 7-Eleven I loaded up on ice cream, chocolate and popcorn. I bought a six-pack as well, and then headed home to put _Ghostbusters_ in the VCR.

When I got in the phone was ringing. I dumped everything on the floor and managed to answer it before the answer machine got it. I was fairly sure it wasn't going to be someone I'd already talked to today because they'd all agreed to give me these two days to myself. So unless it was an emergency, it was someone else.

'Hello?' I asked, somewhat cautiously. I really didn't want to speak to Ranger, and I supposed it was likeliest to be him.

'Ms Plum?' Well, at least the caller wasn't Ranger. The trouble was, I didn't know who it _was_. Still, I didn't think it could be that unpleasant. Unless it was Joe. But it wasn't him anyway.

'Who is this?' I asked, wondering if it was another psycho. But then, they don't usually call me until I've had some previous contact from them. Still, could be a first.

'Tank. I work for Ranger.'

'You're the guy that threw a guy out a third-storey window, right?' And was surprised when he landed on a fire escape, I added mentally. It had been several months ago, on my very first job for RangeMan. There had been three men with Ranger. Tank was huge, black, had thrown a guy out the window and was Ranger's second in command. Bobby was smaller, black, and hadn't said much. Lester had been of indeterminate origin and had seemed like a wiseass. I'd seen them only a few times since, on various other jobs I'd worked for Ranger.

'Um, yes,' he said, sounding uncomfortable. A smile curled the corners of my mouth. I made the Merry Men uncomfortable. This one, anyway. Something told me that that wasn't the easiest task in the world.

'Then it's Stephanie, please. I told you, Ms Plum makes me feel old. Did you want something?' I asked. The only RangeMan who ever called me was Ranger. I couldn't help but wonder why on earth Tank should call me. I mean, it's not like he'd ever call me for help with a skip or a case, and I really didn't know him well enough for there to be any other reason.

'Yeah… I was wondering if you'd seen Ranger.' I paused. To tell him I'd slept with his boss, or not? Such a hard question. Seeing as how if I told him, I'd also have to admit to being walked out on. Not a happy thought. I was still way pissed about that.

'Not since he took DeChooch to the hospital last night, no,' I said eventually, praying Ranger's Merry Men didn't have the ability to sniff out a lie like he did. 'Why?'

'He's gone,' Tank said flatly.

'Define 'gone',' I asked cautiously. These ex-army guys often had strange ideas that didn't necessarily mesh with what everybody else thought.

'As in missing, we can't find him,' Tank explained. 'We've checked most of the usual places he goes when we can't find him, and then I thought he might have been with you, but if he's not… I have no idea where he is. If he calls you or you see him, could you tell him the Astenine deal won't go down without him and we need to know where he is?'

'Yeah, sure,' I said, wondering whether I'd remember that. Oh well, Ranger could probably mind read the information anyway. Probably I wouldn't even speak to him before Tank found him. How likely was it, really, that he'd call me before Tank? I mean, I'm only the woman he slept with and then walked out on. 'Isn't there some way you can track him?' I asked.

'Normally, yes. We located his truck at his house but he picked up a personal vehicle there that we can't track. Thanks for your help.' He hung up. Well, that was rather strange. I shrugged it off and hurried to put my ice cream in the freezer before it completely melted. I refused to think about _why_ Ranger had ensured that even the Merry Men couldn't know where he was. I refused to think about anything. Denial works for me. I grabbed one tub of ice cream, the bag of chocolate, stuck the film in the VCR and pressed play.

I'd drunk a couple beers and made my way through a pint of ice cream by the time _Ghostbusters_ was finished. I flopped onto my bed in my thinking position. I knew I needed to work out what was going on with me and Joe, despite wanting to do nothing more than pretend the problem didn't exist.

Quite frankly, after last night I knew that I wasn't going back to Joe. I'd figured after his ultimatum he'd need some time to cool down, and then we'd be back on-again. But now I knew that I couldn't do that to him. I wasn't ready to settle down and provide him with the life he really wanted; a wife to come home to who'd have dinner on the table and a kid in her womb. That wasn't me.

Probably I should tell him that. Probably he was also figuring that I'd need a while to calm down, and then we'd be back on-again. And even though I wasn't too pleased with him after that ultimatum, I cared for him enough that I couldn't let him have that hope for long when it was so unfounded.

There was also the small matter of my strong-but-unexplored feelings for Ranger. Which I had no intention of exploring any time soon, but did prevent me from going back to Joe. Yet another reason to break up permanently.

Having come to a decision, I also decided that telling Joe could wait until tomorrow. I wasn't ready to venture out into the real world again yet. So I spent the rest of the day watching movies, eating popcorn and drinking beer. Then I fell into bed and was out like a light.

**Chapter Three**

I woke the next morning to a sharp ringing sound. I wanted to turn over and go back to bed, but what if it was Ranger and he needed to talk to me? What if it was Tank with news of Ranger? Glancing at the clock and finding that it was already half ten, I heaved myself out of bed and grabbed the phone.

''lo,' I managed. I wasn't awake yet. I needed coffee.

'Stephanie! Get you ass down here, I need you to take a file!' It was Vinnie. Damn. And I'd wanted another day to recover. Looked like I wasn't going to get it.

'Forty-five,' I mumbled at him and put the phone down. I got coffee started, showered, tamed my personal – and still, unfortunately, _blonde_ – frizz ball and dragged some clothes on. I slurped two cups of coffee and started to feel human again, even down to the faintly nauseous feeling in my stomach. Damn early mornings anyway. Not that it was especially early, I reminded myself.

I looked around in my cupboards but I had nothing to eat. Well, I could always stop by Tasty Pastry on my way to the office. Which is exactly what I'd done when I arrived twenty minutes later on the back of my loaned bike.

Lula and Connie descended on the doughnuts as soon as Lula had snatched the box out of my hands; luckily not before I'd managed to grab a Boston crème. I sank into the couch and polished the doughnut off in seconds, and was reaching for another one when Vinnie appeared.

'You're here,' he said. I just rolled my eyes at him since my mouth was full. 'I suppose you've heard that Ranger's left.' I wasn't a good enough actress to pretend I hadn't, so I nodded. 'He said to give you some of his files. You've got a five-day limit on the first.' He crossed the office, dropped the file next to me and disappeared.

I finished the doughnut and licked my fingers clean before opening the file and looking at the information. It was Stephen Kinelli, wanted for the murder and rape of his wife. And Vinnie expected me to bring him in.

There was a roaring in my ears and I could hear bells clanging, so I put my head between my knees and tried to breathe slowly and deeply. After a few minutes, the bells and roaring stopped. I raised my head cautiously.

'Is Vinnie mad? How the hell does he expect me to do this?' I demanded. 'I don't do murderers or rapists!' I was waving my hands around and yelling, so I didn't immediately notice that Connie and Lula were both staring at the door, mouths agape.

Now this is usually the reaction Ranger gets when he comes in, but since I knew he wasn't here it couldn't be him. I looked over and saw that Tank was coming in with another guy behind him. No wonder Connie and Lula were gaping. Tank was pretty hot himself, but the guy behind him could give Ranger a run for his money. He looked familiar and I wondered where I'd seen him before. Then it hit me; he'd been on that first redecorating job, and a couple of other jobs. I didn't recognise him immediately because he'd let his hair grow since I'd last seen him. His name was Lester.

Tank looked around, and, his lips twitching, gave me a tiny nod. I blushed, but stood up and stalked over to him.

'Did Ranger tell you you're supposed to help me?' I asked. His head moved a fraction of an inch. 'Well, you can start now then. There is no way I'm going after a murderer and a rapist on my own.' Not when he had about twenty previous convictions all to do with heavy violence and weapons. I like being alive, thank you very much.

'Lester can go with you,' Tank said. I thought I saw him grimace and rolled my eyes.

'Ok. Long as he has a truck.' Tank raised an eyebrow and I indicated the bike I'd come in on. He pulled out his cell and flipped it open.

'Lester's truck, bonds office,' was all he said. 'It'll be here in ten,' he said to me and made his way into Vinnie's office, leaving Lester stuck with us.

'So, who're we after?' Lester asked. He grinned at me and I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him.

'Stephen Kinelli,' I replied, gathering up the file. 'Wanted for murder and rape, with previous convictions ranging from domestic violence to carrying concealed to attempted murder and rape.' I passed Lester the folder and he flipped through it. Ten minutes later, Tank reappeared with a stack of folders and Lester's truck had shown up outside. I called 'Bye!' to the girls and followed Tank and Lester outside.

'Where we going, Bombshell?' Lester asked. Tank glared at him.

'We're not supposed to call her that,' he muttered. Lester looked sheepish. I don't know how he managed it, but he did.

'I don't mind,' I said. 'I've been called worse things and I'm pretty sure you guys don't mean it as an insult. And if you didn't call me Bombshell, you'd probably call me Ms Plum and that is definitely worse.' Tank just kind of shrugged and Lester grinned before repeating his question just as my phone rang.

I dug around in my bag for it and eventually answered it on the fifth ring. 'Hello?'

'Stephanie, it's your mother,' she said. Duh. As if I didn't know. 'Why are you at the office? I thought you were taking a couple days off. You're not going after anyone dangerous, are you?' Trust the grapevine to get that back to my mother.

'No mom, the skip's not dangerous at all.' I'm going to hell for lying to my mother. 'Besides, I have back up. Really, I'm not going to get hurt. I'll be fine.' Lester sniggered but stopped – or at least tried to – when Tank glared at him.

'Hmph. If you're back at work already you can come for dinner.' I sighed.

'I'll be there.' Then I hung up. I looked at Lester. 'Let's go.' He nodded and we got into his truck. I read out the address on the file and Lester pulled out.

Four hours later and I was very, very bored. We'd tried the house but no one had been in, so Lester had said we should sit and wait for him. He was unemployed, so we couldn't try his workplace. Since he'd just killed his wife and had apparently been faithful he didn't have a girlfriend we could check on either.

The house was in a fairly well-to-do neighbourhood. Obviously, either Kinelli or his wife came from money, or made it. The house was painted a relatively bland cream, and didn't stand out at all from the rest of the houses. The street was wide, lined with trees and most driveways had a car. Many of the yards bore evidence of kids.

For the first hour Lester and I had talked. I knew a little more about him now, like that he'd grown up in Miami, known Ranger for a very long time, and served in the Special Forces with him. He hadn't said much about that bit, but I could tell there were lots of stories he might be able to tell me. Nothing about the missions they'd been on, but some of the funny stuff they'd done, the stupid things. The little bits that would have made life out there bearable.

I needed to pee. In fact, I'd needed to pee for the last hour or so, but I had no desire to tell Lester that. I was also hungry. Two doughnuts isn't really enough food to last me through a four-hour stakeout. On the other hand, I wasn't particularly interested in letting Lester see me as a wimp who couldn't sit still for more than half an hour. Even though it was true.

I shifted again and decided to give it another half hour. Then we could go back to the office, see if there were any easy skips that I could pick up before dinner while I had Lester and the truck, and then I could go eat.

The last half hour passed in the same silence as the previous few had. After that first hour Lester was very boring. He didn't move, he didn't talk, he barely blinked. I shifted as the time came to an end and he shot a glance sideways at me, a grin curling the corners of his full mouth.

'Bored, Bombshell?' he asked. I crossed my arms and glared at him.

'Yes. Would you mind if we went back to the office so that I might actually be able to earn some money and then continue the search for Kinelli tomorrow?' I asked sweetly. Lester muttered something under his breath that I wasn't sure was English, but he did start the truck and pull away.

Connie looked up as we made our way inside. 'Well, look who we have here,' she said, smirking.

'Have you got anything easy, Connie?' I asked. If this took too much time, I wouldn't be able to catch anyone before dinner. And I really needed the money. My rent was due soon. Connie handed me three files without a word, which I thought was strange until I remembered I had Lester behind me. 'Thanks,' I said and we left.

The files were three repeats that might have given me trouble before I had Lester. I grinned at him and we were pulling into the station with the last one after just a couple of hours. I headed inside, Lester and the skip following me. I got the body receipt without a problem, but when I turned around to leave I bumped into Morelli. Literally.

'Steph, aren't you going to give up bounty hunting?' he asked, his arms going around me to keep me from falling on my ass. I stared at him for a second in disbelief. Hadn't he heard me the last time we had this conversation?

'I already told you, Joe, I'm not giving my job up for a man.' I wasn't pissed, but I wasn't too far from it either. I suspected I would be pissed by the time this conversation was done. I shrugged out of Joe's hold and put some distance between us, wishing we weren't in the middle of gossip central.

'But, Cupcake-' he started.

'No 'buts', Joe. I'm not giving up my job.' I crossed my arms and took a defensive stance. I knew Lester was around somewhere and he wouldn't let Joe hurt me, but he probably wouldn't interfere either.

'You're going to get killed!' Joe burst out.

'Haven't you ever noticed that the times I get in trouble and come near getting killed are the times when you hold information back from me? So why don't you spend your time trying to help me instead of trying to stop me? Because I'm not going to stop just because you tell me to. I don't follow anyone's orders!'

'You follow Ranger's!' Joe's yelling had attracted a lot of attention. There were cops gathered all around, and I caught Lester out of the corner of my eye, close enough to physically protect me but I was right; he wasn't going to interfere.

'Leave him out of this, Joe. He has nothing to do with it,' I said quietly.

'He's got you in trouble enough times!' Lester took a step forwards.

'No, Joe. He gets me _out_ of trouble. He helps me. He doesn't question me. You do.'

'So you think he's going to give you what you want?' Joe demanded, grabbing my upper arms and shaking me. I shook my head.

'No, I don't think that. But I don't think you can either.' Joe looked shocked for a second before his cop face appeared.

'You're breaking up with me? For good?' he sounded shocked, too.

'I didn't want to do it in front of the whole damn station… but yes. That's what I'm doing.' I took a step back as Joe dropped his hands to his sides.

'But, Cupcake, what about-'

'No. I'm not going to change my mind. It's over.' I stepped around him and started to walk out, knowing Lester would follow me. Joe grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him. There was an expression of pain in his eyes.

'Can't I-' he began, ignoring Lester's threatening stance.

'No. I hope we can be friends, Joe. I don't want to lose you completely. But nothing more, ever again.' Joe searched my eyes for a moment then nodded and let me go, stepping back to watch me leave. Strangely, I didn't even feel the need to cry now that it was over. I guess since I'd already decided to end it, it had made it easier. In a way.

'I need to go to the office and pick up my bike now,' I told Lester as we pulled out of the station. He hadn't said anything about the break-up. And I could hand in my body receipts, too.

'You won't need it,' Lester told me. I stared at him. How was I supposed to get to my parents' and back without the bike?

'Why not?' I asked, crossing my arms and glaring at him.

'Because you aren't eating at your parents' on your own,' he told me. I gestured for him to continue and he sighed. 'Kinelli is probably going to know we're looking for him now. While I doubt he'd bother me, he wouldn't stop to think that bothering you isn't the brightest idea. Until we've caught him, I'm afraid you've got someone with you. I'll take you to dinner and stay with you tonight.'

I thought about what he'd said for a few minutes and then it hit me. 'Why wouldn't bothering me be the brightest idea?' I asked.

'Because you have a company of ex-Army security men who've been told to keep you safe,' Lester explained. Oh. Just who did Ranger think he was, anyway? He had a lot to answer for when I finally saw him again.

'Fine. But I still need to hand my body receipts in.' Lester's head moved a fraction and we pulled up at the office. I exchanged my body receipts for cheques and cast a disappointed look at the bike as I climbed back into the truck. We headed for the bank and then my parents' and dinner. I dreaded to think of what might happen with Lester there.

**Chapter Four**

It was just as bad as I had feared it might be. My mom's internal radar had her standing in the doorway as we pulled up, hands on hips. I could see Grandma Mazur stood just behind her, eagerly craning her neck over my mom's shoulder to get a look at Lester. I sighed, rolled my eyes and exchanged a pained glance with him.

'Stephanie Plum, what's this I hear about you breaking up with Joseph in the middle of the station? And you've already got a new boyfriend? What was wrong with Joseph? Introduce me,' she commanded as we walked up the path. I sighed and resigned myself to long explanations that would probably have her heading for the iron.

'It wasn't my fault it was in the middle of the station. Joe wanted me to change. Lester's not my boyfriend, mom, I just can't get rid of him.' He elbowed me for that so I glared at him. He just shrugged. 'He's with me because the skip we're after might come after me until we've caught him. Lester's going to ensure that won't happen.'

'Hmph. You said he wasn't dangerous.' I noticed the lack of a comment about Joe. Probably she was thinking it was as temporary as the rest of our break-ups had been.

'He's not. It would just be better if Lester's presence discouraged from trying to be.' She seemed to accept that, at least, and led us through to the dining room. Lester and I took places at the table, Lester next to my dad, me on his other side. I laughed to myself as I realised how protected he was in that position. Probably it had been intentional.

What he hadn't banked on was my grandmother sitting opposite him. The first part of dinner went fine, everyone ate, the food was praised and there wasn't much conversation. My mother didn't even try to push another job at me.

The real problem began when my mother asked me into the kitchen to help with dessert. She turned to me after she'd closed the door.

'Are you sure this man you're after isn't dangerous, Stephanie?' she demanded, hands on hips. I sighed. Guess she'd seen the lie.

'Ok, yes, he's dangerous, but Lester will protect me. I doubt the guy is more dangerous than Lester.' My mother headed for the dessert.

'Why does he protect you?' she asked as she pulled it out of the oven. Damn. I tried to act nonchalant as I shrugged.

'Ranger told him to. And he likes me.' At least, I was pretty sure he did. She raised an eyebrow at me but seemed to accept my answer as I followed her back into the dining room to see that Lester had pushed his chair as far back from the table as he safely could. He was looking distinctly uncomfortable. I looked across at Grandma Mazur and she had a gleeful light in her eyes.

I couldn't say anything without causing further damage, since I didn't know exactly what she'd done, so I just hurried through dessert as much as I could and pulled Lester up the second we'd finished.

'We have to be going now,' I told my mom. She told me to wait until she'd sorted some leftovers out. After grabbing the bag and telling her I'd call tomorrow, Lester and I left rather hurriedly.

'Remind me to stay in the truck next time,' Lester said in a strained voice as we headed back towards my apartment. I winced, but his cell rang before I could apologise. 'Yo. … It's your turn next time. … Still no word? … Ok, I'll ask. Later.' Wow. Who knew Ranger's men have phone manners? They may not be brilliant but they're better than his. 'Bombshell, Tank wants to know if you've heard from Ranger.'

I looked at Lester. 'You've been with me all day. Have I heard from Ranger?' Lester moved his head in a motion that was probably supposed to be a shake. 'No. Why would he call me before one of you anyway?'

'Because-' Lester began, but then he stopped himself. The rest of the journey was silent. I took the elevator while Lester took the stairs. He was waiting when I got to my door. I unlocked it and as he made me stand aside so he could check it for bad guys, I remembered Ranger's note that I had left casually lying on the side. I did _not_ want Lester to see that.

Ignoring his instructions to wait outside I darted in. Lester had just finished his check and was about to pick the note up. I snatched it from his fingers.

'Whoa, Bombshell, no need for that,' he said, holstering his gun and holding his hands up. 'What is it?' he asked, leaning forward curiously. I turned away from him.

'Private,' I said, trying to think of a place I could put it where there would be no chance of Lester finding it. I hid it in my nightstand drawer under a couple of Pill packets. I didn't think he'd want to look further when he saw those. I wandered back out into the living room, where Lester was slouched on the sofa. 'You want to watch a game or something?' I asked.

'Sure.' So we watched a game of football, which I didn't especially like but Lester seemed to appreciate, while I was more into appreciating the men running around in those tight pants, and then I went to bed. Lester said he'd be fine on my couch. I knew from experience it wasn't that comfortable, but I doubted I could change his mind. I wouldn't have minded if I had; it was lonely in my bed, and I suspected it would be for a long time to come, with Joe and I broken up and Ranger God knew where.

I felt the tears coming then. They were mostly pity tears, but there were some genuine ones for breaking up with Joe. I'm going to say that that was why I didn't notice that someone was breaking in through my window, which had been open a crack to catch the non-existent breeze. The next thing I knew I'd been hauled onto my back and there was a knife at my throat and a guy pressed on top of me. I recognised the guy from his mug shot. It was Kinelli. Where the hell was Lester when I needed him?

'Don't make a sound, lady,' he whispered. 'I saw the Bronco, I know you have a goon that's supposed to be protecting you. Not doing a real good job, is he?' Kinelli laughed quietly to himself. The knife hadn't moved a bit. I wanted to scream but I didn't think that was the best idea given the situation. Another few tears rolled out. 'Geeze, why are you women always blubbering? What's your problem?'

'Men,' I hissed at him. The knife jerked, scraping the skin of my throat but not cutting it. I froze, wide-eyed and terrified. I wished Lester would come in.

'Now. You're going to stop chasing after me, do you understand? It was a bogus charge anyway.' I held in a snort. I didn't think he'd get anyone to believe that with his rap sheet. 'I'm not going to jail. You hear me? I'm not!' His voice had risen. Enough, I hoped, for Lester to hear. A second later, the door eased open.

'I don't think you have a choice about that anymore,' Lester said, deadly calm. His gun was out and pointing at Kinelli, although I was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to shoot him without risking shooting me. 'Why don't you put the knife down, nice and slow,' Lester suggested in a voice that didn't really imply there was much room for choice.

'How about not?' Kinelli suggested, pressing a little harder with the knife. I felt a sharp sting and squeaked. Lester's face went cold and flat right before he squeezed off a shot. Considering how closely Kinelli was pressed on top of me, Lester didn't have much of a target.

Then everything happened real fast. Kinelli was rolling around on my bed, clutching at his leg and screaming and cussing at Lester, who had catapulted himself towards me and was feeling my throat.


	2. Part 2

**Chapter Five**

'Are you ok, Steph?' Lester asked, his voice straining for calm but anxious and worried anyway. I slapped his hands away and sat up slowly, my own hand going to my throat. My fingers came away red. 'Fuck,' Lester whispered. 'I'm so sorry, Steph, I-'

'I'm fine, Lester, it's just a little scratch,' I said, interrupting him. 'It'll heal in no time. Maybe we should deal with him?' I gestured to Kinelli with one hand. Lester tilted my head back to get a better look at my throat but was apparently convinced it wasn't life-threatening, because he turned his attention to Kinelli.

'Get up, it's only a scratch,' Lester said coldly. I snorted. If the amount of blood was any indication, it was considerably more than a scratch, so why was Lester so much less concerned about the skip than he had been about me? 'Will you be ok here if I take him to the hospital?' Lester asked me.

'Uh-uh. There's no way he's going anywhere without me. We're both going,' I told him, sliding out of bed and looking around for some clothes. Lester stared and I blushed, hurriedly pulling on a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt. When I turned around Lester had a towel around Kinelli's legs and his hands cuffed behind his back. I quickly stripped the bloody sheets off my bed, dumped them in the bath and ran a load of cold water over them. I dried my hands and went back out to find Lester waiting for me.

'Let's go,' he said grimly. I nodded and followed as he dragged Kinelli through my apartment and headed towards the stairs as I locked up. Lester shackled him in the back of the Bronco, stunned him to shut him up, and we climbed in the front. He pulled his cell out and handed it to me. 'Call Tank and tell him what happened,' he said curtly.

'Uh… will he kill me for waking him up at-' I glanced at the clock, '-two in the morning?' Lester shot me an amused glance.

'No.'

'Ok then,' I said. I scrolled through Lester's phonebook looking for Tank's number. It wasn't listed. 'Lester? Do you _have_ Tank's number?' I asked doubtfully.

'It's not listed under 'Tank',' he told me, struggling to keep a straight face. 'His name is Tomas.' Right. And I was supposed to know that how? I scrolled through again until I found Tomas, hesitated a second, and hit dial.

'This better be damn good, Santos,' Tank growled when he picked up.

'Um…' I said again, nervous. There was silence for a second.

'Ms Plum?' Tank said then. I sighed.

'Stephanie. It's _Stephanie_,' I told him.

'Right. Why are you calling me at two in the morning on Lester's phone?'

'He told me to,' I said. More silence. Guess he wanted a better explanation. 'We're heading towards the hospital because Kinelli broke in and Lester shot him. He told me to tell you.'

'Well, at least he isn't dead,' Tank remarked dryly. He sounded vaguely amused. 'Why did Lester shoot him?'

'Because he was holding a knife on me?' My voice sounded hesitant. Going on Lester's reaction I was apprehensive about what Tank's might be. Lester groaned and there was yet another stretch of silence from Tank.

'Are you hurt?' he asked shortly. I hesitated.

'No. Well… It's only a scratch. I'll be fine,' I hurried to assure him. Lester's reaction had been slightly scary. I didn't especially want the same thing from Tank. He's already scarier than Lester, I didn't need to make him more so.

'How deep a 'scratch'?' Tank's voice was dark. What the hell was it with these guys and me getting hurt? I mean, I've been shot before. Couldn't they lighten up a little? The damn scratch had already stopped bleeding!

'Not very. It won't take long to heal. Lester just wanted you to know what was going on,' I rushed, then I hung up. Then I could have hit myself. Ranger once told me never to hang up on him. What if that extended to the Merry Men, too? Are they as likely to deport me to a third world country as Ranger is?

'Relax, Bombshell. Tomas isn't that dangerous. Not if he likes you, which he does.' Lester looked like he was having a hard time keeping from laughing.

'It's alright for you, you're friends with him!' I exclaimed. 'The rest of us, we have no idea what he's like! He's not the sort of person I've had much experience with.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' Lester asked curiously, but there was a touch of something else in there… something that sounded suspiciously like wariness or a slight chill.

'It means, before I met Ranger the only person I knew who'd been in the army was my Dad. The only dangerous person I knew was Morelli. But you guys… you could kill me with one finger and there would be nothing I could do. I don't have any idea how you will react in a given situation. That means I can't predict you and that makes you dangerous.'

Why was this coming out of my mouth? I blame the time. Freakin' skip. 'Plus, you never show any kind of emotion, which means I can't even guess at what your reactions are when they happen.' I remembered Lester's concern for me a few minutes ago. 'Most of the time,' I corrected myself.

'You never have to worry about any of us hurting you,' Lester said softly. We were nearly at the hospital by now. 'We're far more scared of what Ric might do if we let you get hurt than we are of just about anything else. And if it was one of us that hurt you… well, I don't think he'd try anything again. If he was even _able_ to try it again.'

O-kaaay. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Thankfully, I didn't have long to think about it because we pulled into the hospital at that moment. I filed what Lester had said away for contemplation on a future rainy day… a day that was a _loooong_ way in the future. Or never. Never would work.

The hospital wasn't busy but it wasn't deserted, either. Lester had had me call the cops after I'd called Tank and they were waiting there for us. They took charge of Kinelli, I got my body receipt without fuss and we were on the way back to my apartment in no time.

'Steph,' Lester said on the drive back, 'I want to suggest something. You probably aren't going to like it but I want you to hear me through before you shoot me down, ok?' Curious and with no idea of what might come next I nodded and let Lester speak. 'I want you to start taking some self-defense with the guys at RangeMan.'

I opened my mouth to protest. 'No, don't protest. You said you'd hear me out.' I shut it again. 'I know you hate exercise but it would ensure that tonight can never be repeated. It will keep you from getting hurt so easily. We could also teach you some take down techniques so that you find it easier to bring your skips in. Don't make a decision now. All I want you to do is think about it.'

I didn't have an immediate reply to that, so the rest of the drive passed in silence. Lester walked me up to my apartment, checked it for bad guys and left, saying I was no longer in danger since Kinelli was in jail again. He did say he'd see me around. I just stripped off my jeans, flung some sheets on the bed and flopped back into it, asleep almost instantly.

**Chapter Six**

I groaned and rolled over, catching a glimpse of the alarm clock as I did. One. Shit. I pulled myself out of bed and stumbled into the shower, emerging twenty minutes later slightly more human. I dressed, grabbed a pop tart for myself and gave Rex a corner, picked up my bag, briefly checked I had everything – hair spray, lip gloss, stun gun, hairbrush, keys, pepper spray, phone – and locked up behind me. Not that it would keep anyone out. Besides me, of course.

I checked my mail on the way out and then resisted the urge to do the happy dance. My insurance had come through and I could finally get another car. No more snitching rides off Lula or the Merry Men. I'd called my dad for a ride to the office and we stopped at Tasty Pastry on the way.

'I bin wonderin' when you gonna get dat skinny ass o' yours down here,' Lula said the minute I made it inside. She was sitting on the couch, dressed in lime green spandex and a black jacket, but jumped up and snatched a donut when she saw me.

I shrugged in response to her, and concluded from her and Connie's expressions that none of the Merry Men were here. Thank God. I wasn't sure what to make of what Lester had told me yesterday and didn't especially want to see any of them until I'd had a chance to think about it. Or forget about it.

'I overslept,' I explained. Connie hid a smile behind her donut.

'Ain't _dat_ the truth,' Lula muttered. I shot her an evil glare but it just bounced right off all that cleavage. Oh well, I kinda needed her alive if she was going to come car shopping with me anyway. I handed my body receipt to Connie.

'Half that goes to RangeMan,' I told her. It was still a considerable sum for me, and would hopefully buy me a better-than-I-could-usually-get car. Connie handed the cheque back to me and I turned to Lula. 'You want to come car shopping? I got my insurance on the Honda and can officially get myself another car, although we'll have to stop by the bank first.' Lula grabbed her purse and stood up, patting her intricately braided hair.

'Damn right I'm comin' wit' you,' she said. We said goodbye to Connie and climbed into Lula's Firebird. She turned to look at me. 'We gonna be gettin' any sustenance while we're car shopping?' she asked hopefully.

'We just had donuts!' I exclaimed. Lula just looked at me for a minute and I sighed. 'McDonald's?' we asked together. She smiled, pumped the bass and we rolled out, pulling up to McD's in record time. After we were both satisfied with the pools of fat in our bellies and had cashed my cheque, we headed off to go car shopping. Lula pulled me through the rows picking out all the cars I _couldn't_ have.

'How 'bout dis one?' she called, standing next to a fire engine red Escape. I'd had an Escape before. I didn't want another one. I shook my head and wandered off, looking for something I hadn't had before. Maybe it wouldn't get blown up.

I finally settled on a neat little truck that was midnight blue. It wasn't something I'd had before, it would be good for transporting skips and it had a good sound system. It also wouldn't cost the world.

We wrapped everything up and Lula headed back to the office while I took a detour to the mall and Mr Alexander's.

'What is it _now_?' he asked, sounding exasperated. I guess I couldn't blame him.

'I don't like the blonde. Can you do anything?' He consulted his book for several minutes before looking back up.

'If you can wait fifteen minutes, I might be able to. But this time you let me do what I want. And you _do not_ run off until I am satisfied.' I meekly agreed and went to sit down and wait the fifteen minutes.

An hour later I left the hairdresser's with a head of no-longer-blonde hair. It was back to my usual colour with a few honey and bronze highlights and was arranged in soft, bouncy curls. It had never looked so good.

To celebrate being back among the brunettes of the world I took a quick detour into Victoria's secret and bought a beautiful matching bra and panty set. They were the same colour as my eyes, silk and lace, the bra a demi-cut wonderbra and the panties riding very low on my hips.

I was just walking out of the mall with a bounce in my step when I heard the explosion. I looked over at my new truck, thinking it couldn't _possibly_ have died this quickly… but I could already see the smoke rising.

I sighed, found myself a spot on the pavement and hauled my cell phone out of my bag. First of all I tried the office. Lula and Connie both had wet nails and wouldn't be able to come for forty five minutes. Mary Lou was out, as was my father and my mother was busy. With another sigh, I scrolled through my numbers until I found Tank's and dialled before I could think better of it.

'Talk,' he said when he picked up.

'Would someone be able to come pick me up?' I asked. There was a moment's silence and I could hear low talking on the other end.

'What happened to your ride?'

'It blew up.' There was what sounded like a suppressed chuckle and then a sigh.

'Where are you?'

'The mall. Whoever comes will see all the emergency vehicles.'

'Someone will be there in fifteen,' Tank assured me, and hung up. I ambled over to give a statement to the cops while I waited. Carl and Big Dog were there not looking at all surprised to see me.

'I told you this would have something to do with Steph!' Carl said to Big Dog. I rolled my eyes at them and Carl turned to me. 'Before you say it, this one actually isn't your fault. Assuming the truck is yours' – I nodded – 'the car you parked next to had a fault and caught fire when the ignition was turned on. Yours exploded when it caught from that one.'

'Does this mean you don't need a statement?' I asked hopefully. Grinning, Carl nodded.

'Sure does. Do you need a ride?'

'No thanks, I've got one already.' I left them to it and sat down to wait nearby. It wasn't long before a black truck pulled up. I pulled open the door and was met with a grinning Bobby.

'Blow up another truck, Bombshell?' he asked. 'That's got a be a record. You haven't even had it a day!'

'No. This one was nothing to do with me. It was the car next to me's fault.' Bobby just shook his head, still grinning, and took off. Twenty minutes later, I looked around in confusion. 'Where are we going?' Wherever it was, it wasn't back to my apartment.

'Tank told me to take you back to RangeMan. He wants to talk to you,' Bobby informed me.

'About?' I prompted, but only received a shrug in reply. Guess Tank didn't confide in Bobby. We pulled into an underground garage that was filled with black cars. Why had I expected anything different? This was Batman's company. He'd probably have an allergic reaction if a car that was any other colour parked in his garage.

'So… this is all Ranger's?' I asked, looking curiously around. After all, everything I found out might come in useful if the man in black ever decided to return. I needed as many weapons as I could get my hands on since he already had the advantage by being able to short-circuit my brain.

'Yup. Ric built this company up from scratch. Most of the employees came into contact with him through the Army at one time or another.' Wow. Voluntary information from a Merry Man. The world must be ending. Either that, or Bobby's not afraid of Ranger's retribution. In which case he must be missing some brain cells.

'What about you?' I asked as we stepped into an elevator. Bobby pressed a button on his key fob and we started to move.

'Me? I served in the same Special Forces team with Ric, Tomas and Lester, as well as a few other employees that work in other offices.' Hmm. This could come in useful. In my experience – my dad – guys who served on the same team in the Army know lots about each other. Often including embarrassing stories. I mentally rubbed my hands together and smiled a gleeful, evil smile.

'So you know Ranger pretty well, huh?'

'Yup.' The elevator doors opened then, putting an end to my interrogation. Damn. At least I'd have a place to pick up from next time I got one of them on their own. They wouldn't know what hit them.

I followed Bobby down a short corridor and into a conference room. Tank was at the head of the table and there were a few other guys sitting around it, papers scattered everywhere. They looked up when we walked in. Tank nodded to Bobby, who turned, gave me a small smile and left. Tank kicked out a chair with his foot and indicated for me to sit. I sat. The guys around the table went back to work but not before I caught a couple of smiles.

'I want you to listen to me and not interrupt,' Tank said. I nodded. 'Ranger left a truck for your use if you couldn't get something yourself. It has every protection he could possibly put on it and it's practically indestructible. He was confident that you wouldn't be able to damage it. Please, will you make my life easier and take it?'

I thought about this for a minute. I really didn't want to blow up another one of Ranger's cars, but if Ranger – and Tank – thought it unlikely I could, maybe I could take it. At least until I could get myself something else.

'Ok. I'll take it.' Tank let out a long breath. 'Why will it make your life easier?'

'Thank you,' he said, ignoring my question. I smiled innocently at him and he rolled his eyes. I was staring stunned at him for a while – Tank _rolls his eyes? – _before I realised he was talking again.

'Huh?' I said, since he seemed to be expecting a reply. He rolled his eyes again.

'I want you to consider something else as well. This wasn't Ranger's idea but it would also make my life easier, or at least give me some peace of mind. I want you to consider self-defence training. Lester told me what happened with Kinelli; I want to make sure it won't happen again.'

'Why?' I was puzzled. Why would Tank spend time and probably money making sure I could defend myself? What was in it for him?

'Because if I let anything happen to you Ranger will kill me when he finds out. Which would probably be sooner than you'd think. He might have disappeared but he'll still be aware of what's happening. If you learn self-defence I'll know you're capable of defending yourself against most of the criminals you come up against and I won't have to worry about you so much.'

Well bowl me over with a feather. I hadn't been aware Tank could say so many words all in one go. I heaved a huge sigh. 'You're not going to give me a choice about this, are you?' I asked. While normally I would fight tooth and nail if I wasn't given a choice, I really didn't want to fight Tank. It didn't take a genius to work out who'd win. Which is lucky really, since I've never been accused of being a genius.

'No,' Tank replied, his lips twitching. I guess maybe he could follow my mental gymnastics too, just like Ranger could. I glared at him but they only twitched more.

'Fine. When does the torture begin?' I asked with a resigned tone. I heard several of the guys behind me snicker, probably at my choice of name for the torture sessions. Tank shot a look over my shoulder and they shut up. Wish I could do that.

'Tomorrow morning. Be here at nine, and make sure you're wearing appropriate clothing.' I nodded and thought about saluting him, but it would be sarcastic and that might be taking things a bit too far.

I spent the rest of the day picking up skips. I managed to bag four of them, all repeats. I had files for another but I was leaving him for tomorrow. I was worn out by the end of the day and sank gratefully into bed.

**Chapter Seven**

I woke at eight thirty the next morning to the blare of my alarm clock. I knocked it impatiently off the nightstand when I remembered why I'd set it in the first place. Groaning and fighting nausea at the early morning – obviously, I'm allergic to them – I pulled myself out of bed. I didn't bother with a shower, knowing I'd only have to have another one when I was finished at RangeMan, so I tied the mess that was my hair back, pulled on exercise clothes and my sneakers and stumbled down to Ranger's truck.

I pulled into RangeMan five minutes late but the garage door opened automatically and Tank was waiting by the elevator for me.

'Get your keys out,' was the first thing he said, 'and I'll show you how to open the garage yourself.' After a quick lesson with the keys where he told me which buttons to press to achieve which things in the building, we headed up to the gym. The only other man in there was Lester, for which I was thankful.

'Morning Bombshell,' Lester said, coming over to us. I scowled at him and he chuckled. Did he have to sound so bloody cheerful so damn early?

'Lester's going to help you today,' Tank began. 'You can learn all the theory you like about self-defence but it won't help you when you need to use it. You have to practice the moves as you learn them so that your body can take over when you need to use this stuff and you don't have to think about it.

'So. You're going to practice on Lester while I watch. Don't worry, you're not at the stage yet where you can actually hurt him, and if you do, he probably deserves it anyway.'

'Hey!' Lester said, looking indignant. I stifled a giggle and got two raised eyebrows. I rolled my eyes at them and they both smiled.

'Let's get started. There are two main positions, and you should be comfortable in both. So, put this foot here…'

For the next three hours, Tank taught me several moves, mainly blocks and punches but there was one kick, too, and I practiced on Lester. Tank was right – there was no way I'd've been able to hurt Lester. He had the reflexes of a cat and at least a decade of training and practice on me. Still, I was definitely improving by the end – even I could tell.

'You think we could do this a little later next time, Tank?' I asked. 'I hate having to get up this early.' Tank rolled his eyes and Lester chuckled.

'If you insist. We can make it ten.' I nodded, relieved, and hurried back to my apartment to shower before dressing. I spent the next few hours picking up skips before Tank ordered me into the gun range for torture session number two. He said self defence was fine, but only really useful if I got into a bad situation. Learning to not get there would be much better – and carrying a gun would persuade my skips that they should do what I said.

This time, it was Lester waiting in the garage for me. 'Tank had a problem to sort out so he asked me to take you to the gun range,' Lester explained, slinging one arm around my shoulders as we walked into the elevator.

'I don't suppose I could convince you to let me go home now?' I asked in a whiney tone. Lester chuckled and grinned down at me.

'Don't suppose you could. Ric always said you hated your gun, but I was never quite sure whether to believe him. Anyway, you need to be able to use it. People will rarely fight someone with a gun if they're unarmed, as long as the person looks like they can use it. You need to be able to back the threat up with some real knowledge.' I sighed.

'I really, really don't like guns, Lester,' I muttered as the doors opened. Lester grinned at me, steered me over to a bench against the back wall of the range and pushed me down onto it. He sat next to me and turned to look at me. The rest of the range was empty. Lester fiddled with his keys for a moment.

'If you tell any of the guys about this then remember that paybacks are a bitch,' he began, his expression turning serious. I nodded. 'When I first joined the army I hated guns too. When I was little my dad had a shotgun and he used to beat my mom with it. Sometimes he'd beat me or my brothers as well. When I grew up I didn't want anything to do with guns. But then I got into trouble, and I had to choose the army or jail time.

'I didn't want to disappoint my mom by doing time, so I joined the army. It took my drill sergeant weeks to get rid of my fear, but he was a stubborn bastard and I lost it in the end. I can and I will make you lose your fear the same way.'

I sat and stared at Lester for a while. I felt amazingly sorry for the little boy that had had to witness that, and the young man that had been forced to overcome that fear. Lester's face closed as I watched him and I understood that he didn't talk about this, and that none of the guys knew what he had just told me. I nodded my acceptance of what he'd told me and of his desire to keep it between us.

'Thank you. It means a lot that you would tell me. But how did you get over your fear?' I asked, curious. Lester grimaced as he dropped back into his memories.

'My drill sergeant made me wear my gun all the time, except when I was showering. Unloaded, at first, just to get comfortable with the object while it wasn't so dangerous. He'd come looking for me at the most unexpected times just to check I was still carrying it, and when he did he'd force me to take it out and drop, right then, into a shooting stance.

'At first I hesitated. While it was sitting in my holster it was almost like it couldn't do anything. It was strapped down, contained. But the moment I took it out it became a weapon, a thing that could hurt someone; me. After a while, my hesitations became shorter, until I only had to see him coming down the corridor before it was out and I was ready to shoot.

'Then he told me to load it. Of course, in the training we were doing target practice and learning to load and unload our guns blind, but this was different. I had to walk around with a much more dangerous weapon on me. He'd still find me and tell me to take it out, take a shooting stance. My hesitations were back.

'Eventually, I worked through those ones too. Wearing it so much, always having it with me, seeing them everywhere, using them all the time it eventually just became any other everyday object, like a toothbrush or a car. It was just something I used to do my job. I'd lost my fear of it.

'I'm not saying it will be easy but it can be done. It will be easier if you _want_ to overcome your fear. If you're stubborn and determined it won't take as long. Can you do it on your own or will you need me to find you like my drill sergeant did?'

I thought about everything Lester had told me. I didn't _want_ to learn how to hurt somebody. I didn't want to know how to kill somebody, and have the thing with me that would do it. On the other hand, I didn't like failing.

'I think you're gonna have to keep finding me,' I said eventually. Lester nodded, not scornfully, just accepting.

'Ok, I can do that. Be ready. There won't be anything regular about when I find you.'

'Sure, just please don't do it in front of my mother. She's gonna find out I'm carrying but I'd rather she not see it. I'll get enough grief from her as it is.' Lester laughed.

'Fine. Now, you carry what? A Smith and Wesson .38?' I nodded and dug it out of my bag, handing it to Lester. 'This isn't the best gun for you. It's a bit small and it doesn't look all that impressive to people who are more used to guns than you are. You need a gun that shows you mean business. I can get one for you, but it'll take a little while for it to come. In the mean time, we can still practice with this.'

Lester proceeded to spend the next two hours teaching me how to shoot my gun. I had practiced with it a few times, so I wasn't a complete beginner, but according to Lester there was still a lot to learn. At the end of the two hours my arms were filled with jelly and I just wanted to sleep. Instead, I headed to my parents for dinner.

For my parents' house it was a relatively quiet dinner. I grabbed my bag of leftovers and headed home. I had a visitor waiting for me when I got there. Lester was sitting on my couch and I groaned when I saw him.

'Gun out, Bombshell, and take a shooting stance.' I rolled my eyes but did as he said, putting my bags on the side and fumbling my gun out of its holster. Lester got up and walked over to me, adjusting my stance a little.

'Good. Next time be faster.' I nodded tiredly and dropped my arms.

'Can I go to bed now?' I asked plaintively. Lester's lips twitched and there was an amused twinkle in his eyes. I was too tired to react to it.

'Go ahead.'

'You feel like leaving first?' Lester grinned unrepentantly.

'Night, Bombshell. See you at ten.' I just nodded and he let himself out, finally allowing me to flop into bed and fall instantly asleep.

**Chapter Eight**

I dropped my keys on the side, grabbed a beer from the fridge, made a quick detour to the bathroom and dropped onto the couch with a sigh. I hadn't caught a single skip today and I'd gone after six. Talk about 'unproductiveness'. And, it was a Friday night and I had absolutely no plans. No one wanted to go out with me. Was I that undesirable?

It was about a week after I'd taken Ranger's truck and it hadn't been too bad a week. I was getting much better at the few punches, blocks and kicks Tank taught me and my work with my gun had improved, although the new one hadn't arrived yet. Lester had checked I was carrying it maybe twenty times in the whole week. I'd only been carrying about ten times. For each time I wasn't carrying, he subtly increased the torture session by ten minutes. I'd had dinner at my parents' a couple more times. I'd caught myself enough skips to get by and I'd gotten over Joe. Too bad I couldn't say the same for Ranger. At least I hadn't blown his truck up.

I was just thinking about finding some crappy movie on the TV when my phone rang. Since I had nothing better to do and it wasn't likely to be my parents because I'd just had dinner with them, I picked up. 'Hello?'

'Bombshell.' Tank had given up on calling me anything else since he never managed Stephanie and I hated Ms Plum. I wondered what he was calling for. I'd attended all of the torture sessions but hadn't seen him otherwise. All my skips since then had been easy, or at least un-dangerous. Nothing I'd needed anything more than Lula's back-up for.

'Did you need something, Tank?' I didn't figure he'd call for any other reason.

'Do you have plans tonight? I'm sorry it's short notice but we need a distraction, and Ric said we should ask you to do some more. It shouldn't take long but the guy isn't going to be there until eleven. Can you do it?' I thought about it for a second. It wasn't going to be any worse than hanging out alone in my apartment.

'Sure. Where is it, what type of slut do I need to be tonight and how dangerous is the guy?' There was a beat of silence.

'You aren't a slut.' His voice was flat, emotionless. I rolled my eyes and waved a hand vaguely in the air before realising he couldn't see it.

'Beside the point. What do I need to wear? Classy or trashy or somewhere in between?' I really hoped it wasn't too trashy. I hate being just a 'piece of ass' even if it is just for a job. I don't mind dressing up, though. What girl does?

'Classy and upmarket but understated.' Good. This might actually be fun. 'Pants would be better than a dress. The guy is suspicious. If you look like you're out to hook up, he won't bite. Pick you up at nine, we're heading into the city and we can't be late.' I opened my mouth to answer but he was gone. Hunh. Not much better than Ranger after all.

Two hours later I'd rushed through a shower, somehow got my hair to cooperate and had dressed in cream pants that clung in all the right places and made my legs look long and slim and a stretchy blue sweater that emphasised my eyes. I'd decided to wear the new lingerie that I'd bought the day my truck blew up, since I hadn't had a chance yet. I chose a pair of strappy cream sandals. My make up was light and also drew attention to my eyes and I was just trying to fit everything into my purse when there was a knock on my door.

'Hi Tank,' I said, letting him in. 'Give me a minute to sort my purse out.' He nodded and leaned against the wall in my living room. I took everything out of my purse and tried to get it back in so that I could also close the damn thing. A couple of minutes later I'd managed it. I looked up at Tank. 'I just need to go to the bathroom.' He just nodded.

'I need to get you wired, Bombshell,' Tank said when I came back. He moved towards me and pulled something out of his pocket. I stood there and let him. He briskly stuck his hands up my top and taped a microphone underneath my right breast. I missed Ranger with a sickening swoop and pressed my hand against my stomach, willing it to settle, but still thinking of how Ranger would have stolen a feel and probably a kiss instead of doing it as quickly as he could. 'Let's go.'

Still battling the nausea of missing Ranger I followed Tank out of the door and down into his truck. He handed me a file which I read as we drove.

The skip was a few years younger than me, a few inches taller and up for attempted rape. He was actually relatively good looking, with floppy blond hair and baby blue eyes. He wasn't fat but it didn't look as though he worked out, either. I didn't think I'd have too much difficulty with him; he was a fairly successful businessman. Probably that was because of the drugs he was importing on the side.

The ride was silent but I hadn't really expected anything else. Tank pulled up on the street a little way down from the bar and turned towards me.

'Lester's gonna be inside and I'll be out here with Junior for the takedown. We can all hear what's going on and we'll get you out if there's trouble. Don't act too fast or the guy won't bite. He's not here yet but he won't be long, ok?'

'Sure. I'll be fine, Tank.' He nodded and I got out, walking back to go into the bar. Tank pulled away to park.

The place was small, but classy. I fit in perfectly. I took a seat at the bar and ordered a glass of white wine. I didn't want to get drunk so I was going to make it last. I made brief eye contact with Lester and he gave me a short nod as I settled in to wait.

Daniel Hedford came in twenty minutes later. He scanned the bar and settled a few seats down from me. I ignored him for the first ten minutes, then made eye contact. I smiled slowly, as if I liked what I saw. If you count that I was imagining seeing his handsome face behind bars, then I _did_ like what I saw.

A couple of minutes later another glass of white wine appeared next to my nearly empty one. 'Compliments of the gentleman,' the bartender said, tipping her head towards the skip. I turned and gave him a 'come hither' smile. He smiled back, picked up his drink and joined me.

'Hi. I'm Daniel,' he said, sitting down. I looked up at him through my lashes and kept the image of his face behind bars in the front of my mind. I could do this. I've done it before, lots of times. Just because Ranger's not here doesn't mean I can't do it.

'Michelle,' I answered softly. 'Thanks for the drink.' He smiled.

'You're welcome.' He paused a moment. 'What's a beautiful lady like you doing out alone on a Friday night?' Daniel asked, taking a sip of his drink. _Trying to get you thrown back into jail,_ I thought.

'Well, I was having dinner with my boyfriend earlier this evening, but then he dumped me. I didn't want to go home alone, so I came here.' I raised one shoulder in the shadow of a shrug and smiled. 'He was a loser anyway.'

'He must be, if he let you go,' Daniel replied in a voice that tried to be charming. It might have worked if I hadn't known he was a criminal. He really wasn't that bad looking. Shame about his business activities. We exchanged small talk and flirted for half an hour and my second glass of wine, and then Daniel stood up.

'I can't let you go home alone tonight. Would you like to come back to my place for coffee?' he asked. I smiled up at him.

'That would be great,' I said. He wrapped one arm around my waist and led me outside. Five steps beyond the door, Tank and Junior appeared to grab Daniel. Tank took his left arm from around my waist but Junior didn't quite manage to catch his right arm. I turned around to see if I could help but Daniel was smart – he had apparently realised what was going on. And his free fist caught me in the gut.

All the wind was driven out of me and I dropped to my knees, curled over, trying desperately to get a breath. I vaguely heard a heavy thump and guessed that Tank must have taken Daniel down. A second later, Lester was at my side.

'Steph! Are you ok?' I tried to get a breath to answer him but I couldn't. My abdomen was burning where I'd been hit, more than it should have been. Lester grabbed me and steadied me and at last I managed to gasp a breath into my lungs. I knelt on the side walk, one hand hanging onto Lester and the other gently rubbing my stomach, trying to get the pain to fade. I looked up into concerned brown eyes that were almost familiar, but not quite.

'Yeah. I'm fine now. Thanks, Lester.' He helped me to my feet and I swayed for a moment as I straightened, then took a step back, repressing the urge to take really deep breaths. Tank slammed the back door of a Bronco with Daniel shackled to the floor inside it and came back to me.

'Are you alright, Stephanie?' Tank asked. His expression was concerned and I remembered what Lester had said about these guys letting me get hurt. I smiled a little tightly.

'Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm just a bit tired. Any chance of going home now?' Tank chuckled, but I could sense he was still angry about what had happened. Lester stepped forwards and put a supporting arm around my back. I leaned against him a little, totally exhausted.

'I'll take her. You and Junior get him down to the station,' Lester said, jerking his head at Daniel. Tank nodded and Lester, his arm still around my waist, led me to another truck. 'Are you sure you're ok, Steph? It looked like that hurt more than it should have.' It had, but I had no idea why and I didn't feel like discussing it with Lester.

'Yeah, I'm fine. I just want to go home,' I said. Lester didn't say anything more and three minutes into the drive I fell asleep.

'Come on ciela, wake up honey,' I heard next. I only woke enough to register that I was being lifted out of a car by strong arms.

'Ranger?' I murmured. After all, he was the only person that ever carried me anywhere. There was a warm chuckle that sounded quite a lot like him.

'No Steph, I'm Lester.'

'Mmm, 'kay,' I murmured again. I wrapped my arms around his neck and snuggled in, almost missing the muttered 'Jesus'. I ignored it and just enjoyed my ride. A little while later I was gently put down on something soft. I was still mostly asleep, so I didn't protest when Lester pulled my pants off and removed my sweater. I stretched and luxuriated in the soft mattress.

'Jesus Christ,' he muttered, pausing. I blinked up at him and he shook himself, quickly pulling the covers over me and then I was asleep.

**Chapter Nine**

_(Ranger's POV)_

I heard the door open on the other side of the bar and lifted my head to look. I groaned and let it thunk back against the wall. Ow. Diego crossed the bar and slid into the seat next to me.

'¿Cómo el carajo me encontraste?' I slurred. I should probably have stopped drinking a while ago but it was the only way I had found to successfully banish my memories of Steph, and particularly those words she'd spoken. I was in a bar, and I was pretty sure I was in Colorado, but I couldn't be totally sure. I hadn't stayed in any one place for more than a night since I left Trenton a month ago.

'That doesn't matter,' Diego replied, still in Spanish. 'What I want to know is what the hell you think you're doing.' I downed another of the shots I had lined up in front of me. More than half were already gone.

'What does it look like I'm doing?' I demanded, reaching for another shot. Probably it wasn't a good idea to get any more drunk than I was. At the moment I still had a reasonable chance of not spilling my guts to my twin, but that chance was slipping with every extra shot. Diego snatched the shot before I could down it and I glared at him. Unfortunately it didn't seem to have any effect.

'It looks like you're trying to get drunk,' he said in English. It took a while for the words to gain any meaning in my head. English becomes an effort when I'm drunk. 'What I want to know is _why_. I think the last time I saw you like this was after you split with Dulce and she wouldn't let you see Elena, and that was nearly nine years ago.'

'Probably,' I agreed, only I was still speaking Spanish. I downed another shot before Diego could grab it. My twin can be a pain in the ass sometimes… most of the time.

'So. Why are you in a bar in the middle of nowhere getting drunk?' I was glad he'd switched back into Spanish.

'I'm not telling you,' I informed him. Which was pretty moot because I was fairly sure he'd get it out of me eventually.

'You want me to ring mamá and get her to come out here?' I shook my head emphatically and then had to hold it to keep it from falling off. 'She's been worried about you, Ric. You can't just run away and run away, and keep getting drunk. You'll have to face whatever it is at some point.'

'No I won't. I can just stay out here, there's no reason to go back to Trenton.' I grinned at Diego, pleased with myself. I had plenty of money, I had my truck, I had clothes, and I didn't have a reason to go back to Trenton. I had plenty to stay away, however.

'And what if someone else finds you when you're drunk, like I did? Someone you can't fight because you're too pissed to stand up straight?' Diego demanded angrily. 'Give it up, Ric, and go home, for God's sake.'

'No. Going home is not a good idea.'

'Why not? What's there that you're so afraid of?' I glared at him. I'm not afraid of anything, I've walked hand-in-hand with death!

'I'm not afraid!' I hissed at my brother.

'Yes you are. I'm not leaving you alone until you've told me, so why don't you tell me now and stop being an idiot.'

'I've already told you, I'm not telling you.'

Diego opened his mouth to reply but his cell rang then. He shot me a glare before answering it. The conversation was in English so I didn't even bother trying to follow it. Instead I used the time to down another two shots. Then I promised myself I would stop. If I got any drunker I would lose all control over my mouth.

Diego snapped his cell shut and turned to me. 'That was Fincetti. He's calling in his marker. Come on. We're going back to your motel so you can sleep this off and tomorrow morning we're flying to DC.' Diego slid out of the booth and pulled me up beside him. I swayed on my feet. 'God I hope this isn't for a woman,' Diego muttered as he slung my arm around his shoulders and grabbed my waist. I staggered out of the bar leaning on Diego and was dumped in the back of his truck. I passed out before he set off.

Some time later I was shocked awake by a bucketful of cold water in my face. I glared up at Diego. It appeared I was lying in a parking lot. Diego's truck was parked not far from my feet.

'Come on, Ric. I can't carry you to your room. You have to get up and walk. You're too damn heavy.' With Diego's help I made it to my feet and into the room I'd rented this afternoon. I collapsed on the bed and slipped into blissful oblivion.

There was an army with hammers in my skull. I groaned and tried to roll over, except there was a body next to me. 'Steph?' I mumbled drowsily. The body was too hard to be Steph's. Dimly, the memory of Diego finding me surfaced. I dropped onto my back and stayed there.

I felt the bed move as Diego got up, and then the light flicked on. I flung one arm over my face. 'Get up. Flight leaves in two hours,' Diego said. I ignored him. 'Ric, you have to fly to DC. Fincetti called his marker. Remember?'

'Not much,' I mumbled. Diego pulled me up and pushed me into the shower. I emerged ten minutes later feeling a little more human. He had two aspirin and coffee waiting for me. I dressed quickly and sank into a chair, downing the aspirin and half the coffee, scalding my throat. Diego disappeared to shower and I packed up the few things I had taken out after I finished my coffee. I still had a pounding headache but it wasn't as bad.

'I'm going to drive you back to the bar so you can pick up your truck, and then we're going to drive to the airport,' Diego told me. I followed him out, checked out of the motel and got into the truck. I tipped my head back against the seat. 'Are you going to make this easy and just tell me what's going on or not?' Diego asked as he pulled out.

'Not,' I said. Diego chuckled and I winced. The rest of the drive was silent, thankfully. I retrieved my truck from the bar and we headed towards Denver airport. We checked in and it wasn't long before we were boarding the plane and headed for DC.

A few hours later we were sequestered in a room in a government building hammering out the terms of the mission we were being sent on. For the last few years the only missions I'd been doing privately were ones like this; repaying markers that I owed. Since I'd started RangeMan I'd been steadily pulling back from this kind of thing unless the company was contracted for a mission. Then I lead a team and did whatever I was told to do.

'There is only a five percent chance these men will come back alive. I can't ask them to do it for so little. You need to pay them more. I might be repaying a marker by leading this team, but they owe you nothing.' I kept my voice calm even though I was seething inside. Did he think men just do this kind of thing for the fun of it? They do it because they get paid a lot for it.

'Fine, will double what I've already offered satisfy you?' he asked. I smiled slowly and exchanged a look with Diego.

'That would be perfect.'


	3. Part 3

**Chapter Ten**

I woke up with my stomach rolling, so I slid out of bed and hurried into the bathroom. I had no idea what time it was. I heard someone come into my apartment and had a vague feeling of worry, but I was sick again before I could do anything about it. The bathroom door opened and my mother walked in.

I blinked up at her from the floor where I rested against the shower. She took one look at my face and pulled a washcloth out of the cupboard, running it under the cold tap and handing it to me. She flushed the toilet and I heard her leave, the cloth refreshingly cold against my eyes. A moment later a glass of water was pressed into my hand.

'Do you want coffee?' my mom asked when I'd recovered a bit and managed to stand up and wash my face. I nodded and she left to go make it. I didn't bother to dress because I'd only undress when my mom left to take a shower, so I pulled on a soft robe and went to find her.

'Thanks,' I said as she put a cup of coffee in front of me, seating herself opposite with one of her own.

'How long have you been ill, Stephanie?' Mom asked when we'd both sipped from our coffee. I shrugged.

'I'm not ill, exactly. I'm usually ok, it's just been a few mornings…'

'How many?' Her voice was kind and gentle, encouraging. I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a conversation like this with my mom. Usually she was telling me I needed a better job or it was pleasantries over the dinner table. I couldn't remember the last time I was sick, either.

'I don't know… most of them in the last couple of weeks or so, I guess.' I hadn't seen my parents much in that time. In fact, I hadn't seen many people in that time, I'd tended to concentrate on my training, both hand to hand and with my new gun, which had arrived two days after my first distraction job with the guys. I spent as little time in the office as I could to escape questions from Connie and Lula and I'd avoided pretty much everyone from the Burg. I didn't want any gossip to get around. 'Why did you come round, mom?'

'I just wanted to check on you. No one's seen you for a while except the cops and I wanted to make sure you were ok. They said you're bringing in more skips than usual. Maybe you need to take things a little easier for a bit,' she said, finishing her coffee and getting up.

'Maybe I do,' I agreed as she left. I showered quickly and dressed, noticing that my jeans felt a little tighter. Not too much, but enough that I considered running – but only for about a second. I _hate_ running.

I motored down to the office and picked up my files, saying a quick good morning to the girls and escaping before any awkward questions could be asked. I picked my skips up fairly easily thanks to the takedown techniques I'd worked on with the guys and the Beretta on my hip. I didn't have a session with them today since I'd had one yesterday, so I wasn't quite as tired as usual when I got back to my apartment.

I walked in and dumped my bag on the side table before heading to the fridge for a beer. I snapped the top, took a swig and turned to put it on the side to grab some dinner when I noticed the bag.

It was a white chemists' bag and I hadn't left it there. It wasn't from any of the chemists in the Burg, but further away, probably Hamilton Township. There was a note tucked underneath it so I pulled it out. Probably it wasn't going to blow me up if there was a note.

_Dear Stephanie,_

_ I was worried about you this morning so I called Connie at your office and she said you've been a little strange lately. She said you were more tired than usual and you haven't eaten donuts with them for days. I don't know why and if I'm wrong then I'm sorry, but I wanted you to be aware of the possibility._

_Love, Mom_

I almost looked inside the bag before deciding it might be a good idea to sit down first. It was a good thing I did because otherwise I probably would have ended up on the floor. The bag contained a home pregnancy test kit.

Before I really had time to react the locks on my door clicked and Lester and Bobby walked in. Tank was in Atlanta for a few days sorting out a problem in that office. I shoved the bag out of sight and looked up at them. 'Hey guys.' My voice sounded falsely bright to my ears.

'Hey Bomber,' Bobby replied, 'are you alright?'

'What's in the bag, Steph?' Lester asked. I blushed a little.

'Just something my mom picked up for me, nothing special,' I told them. 'I'm fine, Bobby.' Thankfully, they dropped it.

'Got a job for you tonight, if you're interested,' Lester said after a moment. I'd done several distractions for the guys over the past few weeks so it was pretty routine now. And working tonight might help distract me from what my mother was evidently implying. I really had no desire to deal with it now.

'Sure. How long do I have, how do I need to look and who's in?' I asked. I'd learned that knowing which RangeMen were going to be there was often a better indication of how serious it was than the guys' evasive explanations.

'Me, Bobby, Ram, Vince and Junior,' Lester said. Damn, this must be a serious one, usually there were only two or three guys. 'We'll come back at nine, and I'm afraid the guy's real trashy, so you need to look trashy too.' Lester winced at his own words and I sighed.

'Sure. I'll be ready.' Lester gave me a quick smile and he and Bobby left. It was already half seven so I needed to be quick. I jumped in the shower, shaved all the important areas and jumped out again. I blow dried my hair and put it in hot rollers, then went to work on my make up. Then I turned to my wardrobe.

I pulled on cream boy shorts and fixed on a stretchy black miniskirt that ended about two inches below my ass. I paired it with a cream halter neck top that had a wooden oval between my breasts which was all that held the front together. Below that, a triangle of my midsection was visible, but it managed to make me lose the couple extra pounds. I couldn't wear a bra with it.

I was just unrolling my hair when there was a knock on the door. With half of it still up in rollers I pulled the door open to admit Lester and Bobby. They both grinned when they saw me.

'Lookin' good, Bombshell,' Bobby said as they stepped inside. I shot him a glare and returned to the bathroom to take the rest of my hair down. After spritzing a ton of hairspray on it, touching up my make up and pulling on a killer pair of cream FMPs I was ready. I stuffed the necessities into a purse and headed out to get wired.

Lester gave me a long, assessing look and then looked down at the wire in his hand. 'Where am I supposed to put this, Bombshell?' he asked. I rolled my eyes, grabbed the wire and taped it just below my left breast.

'Can you see it?' I asked. The two men slowly dragged their eyes back up to mine. I could see Bobby swallow hard.

'No,' Lester said after a minute. I smiled at them. Lester shook his head and pushed Bobby out of my apartment ahead of him. I followed, locked the door and dropped the keys in my purse.

The ten minute journey was silent as I read the file. We were going after one mean motherfucker. He was 6'2", 250lbs and neither ugly nor handsome. He was 34 years old and running from three rape and murder charges. He had a history of violence that got worse as he got older. I was sweating just thinking of going after him, especially after what my mom had indirectly said.

'This isn't going to take long, is it?' I asked. Lester eyed me in the rear view mirror, his eyes obviously dropping to my chest before he pulled them back up.

'No, Bombshell. This isn't going to take long.' I blushed and shut up. We pulled into the car park and Lester switched the engine off. 'Ram and Vince are inside, the rest of us are waiting out here. All you need to do is get him out the front door. You'll be fine.'

'Yeah. Sure. See you in a few minutes, guys,' I said, and climbed out of the truck. There was another black truck parked next to it, which meant everyone was already here. That was good. I rounded the building and walked in the front door.

**Chapter Eleven**

About three steps in some drunk guy stumbled into me, grabbing my top. I guess all that sweating had loosened the mic because I could feel it drop to the floor. I looked up and made eye contact with Ram; he nodded to tell me it was ok. Mentally shrugging and hoping this _really_ wasn't going to take long I made my way to the bar.

I figured with the amount of cleavage I had on show I would let the skip come to me. I sat down and ordered something; I wasn't really aware what. When it came I took a tiny sip – if I really was pregnant I didn't especially want to drink heavily. And I couldn't hold a glass for long without spilling something because my hands were shaking. But that had nothing to do with it. Two minutes later the skip sat down next to me.

'I'm Mike,' he said, smiling a lecherous smile at me.

'Suzy,' I answered. There was no way I wanted him to know my real name. I smiled back while mentally gagging. Why do I do these things again? Oh yes, Ranger pays me for it. I need the money.

'What are you doing here?' he asked, glancing around. I followed his eyes and wasn't terribly impressed with what I saw. The lighting was quite dim, the tables were all scratched up and the seat cushions were stained. I didn't want to look any closer at them. I looked back at Mike and tried to ignore the surroundings.

'I came in for a drink cos my boyfriend just dumped me, but I'm not sure I'm really in the mood for it,' I answered, trying to suggest that I was in the mood for something else when really all I wanted to do was gag. 'Maybe I need something that's better at wiping my memory,' I suggested, 'make me forget that sleaze ball's touch.' Jeez, how obvious can you get? Still, Mike was lapping it up.

'I could do that for you. I could make you forget him. Come back to my place and I'll show you,' he offered. _So_ kind of him. I smiled and stood up. 'Aren't you going to finish your drink?'

'I told you, I'm not in the mood for a drink. I need something better.' Mike smiled, stood and started to guide me to the back door. Oh shit. I was supposed to go out the front. I chanced a look at Vince and he was talking hurriedly with Ram; guess they were alerting the guys outside. Good.

We left the bar and entered a narrow, dim passageway. About halfway down it I was slammed into the wall and Mike pressed himself against me. I pushed half-heartedly against him but I didn't want to scare him off.

'I don't think I can wait until I get you home. How bout I make you forget your boyfriend right here, right now?' he asked. He ran one hand up my arm and along my collarbone, getting dangerously close to my breast. Good thing the mic was gone. I really didn't want to think about what could happen if he found it.

'Mike, I really think it would be better at yours. You know, we can do it properly, in a bed-' I started. Mike shut me up with a rough kiss and his hand clamped on my breast. Ouch. Damn, that _hurt_. He forced his tongue between my lips and I didn't want to bite him, which is actually what I _really_ wanted to do, because I was still hoping to distract him long enough for the guys to get here and take him down, but the kiss dragged on and no one appeared.

I started to panic. Mike slid me along the wall and fumbled a storeroom door open. He shoved me inside and pulled the door shut behind him, then pressed me up against the far wall. 'Mmm, you taste good,' he said, licking my neck. I was pushing ineffectively at him, all my self-defense training deserting me as I panicked, trying to get free, worrying about whether I was pregnant and if I was, whether Mike could hurt the baby.

Mike pulled my top down to bare one breast as he squeezed the other. I was really wishing the boys would get here about now. Mike's teeth bit down on my throat and I cried out in pain. 'Yeah, I like that, baby,' he growled. I struggled harder but he was so big I had no chance of moving him.

He stepped back for a second and I managed to get my hands between us and push, but I had no leverage and he was too heavy. Ignoring my pleas for him to stop he pulled my top roughly over my head and paused to look at me, trapping my arms at my sides when I attempted to cover myself.

'No, baby, I want to see you. You're so beautiful, I'm gonna make you feel so good. Do you like it? Knowing I'm gonna make you feel good, knowing you're mine?' he leered at me. No I do _not_ like it, you asshole!

Mike stepped back up to me and pressed his erection against my pelvis. Thank God my top was the only thing he'd removed, although his thigh was pushing my skirt higher and higher and I didn't have a free hand to pull it back down yet.

He lowered his head and bit down on one nipple as one hand moved up my thigh and the other assaulted the opposite breast. I moaned, in pain not pleasure. My breasts weretender, and what Mike was doing was just making it worse. He rolled the nipple between his fingers and pushed my boy shorts aside. Apparently not noticing – or not caring – that I was really_ not_ turned on, he shoved two fingers inside me and I screamed as my back bowed from pain.

He stroked his fingers in and out, his thumb searching for my clit as his mouth sucked on my breast. I was whacking at his head but it wasn't having any effect. He added a third finger, then a fourth as I continued to scream, hoping that somehow, the boys would hear and get me out of here, but still they didn't come.

Mike's hand left my breast and fumbled with his pants. He grabbed my ass and I just felt the tip of his cock against my entrance when finally the door slammed open and he was yanked backwards. I fell to the floor, shaking and unable to hold myself up as I started to sob. A second later and I would have been raped.

Dimly, I became aware of what was going on. Bobby and Vince were holding Mike between them while Lester pretended he was a punching bag. I could see Ram through the doorway, waiting in the corridor but I didn't know where Junior was.

I regained enough presence of mind to search for my top; it was across the room and Lester was in the way. No way was I going to risk getting in the middle of that fight. Instead, I pulled my knees up to my chest, wincing at the pain, wrapped my arms around them, hoping that would keep me covered, and huddled against the wall. I could sense that the Merry Men were furious – far more so than I had ever seen them. I was terrified and I wanted to avoid their attention, not knowing whether their fury would turn on me if I said or did the wrong thing.

A long time later, when there was a large amount of blood on Mike's face and the front of his shirt and he was long since unconscious, Lester seemed to gain some control of himself. He stepped back and looked at Bobby and Vince. Both of them had completely blank faces. 'Vince, Junior, get him out of here.' Junior appeared from the corridor and between him and Vince they dragged Mike outside.

**Chapter Twelve**

Lester took a couple of deep breaths, picked my top up and turned around. His blank face was melting into one of concern as he dropped down next to me. I shrank back, still afraid as he extended my top. I reached out gingerly and pulled it on before wrapping my arms back around me. I was still shaking and crying.

'Steph, it's ok. He's gone. I won't let him hurt you again,' Lester murmured. He reached for me, probably intending to pick me up and take me outside, but I couldn't control my reaction – I flinched and tried to squash myself further into the corner, make myself as small as possible.

Lester's face darkened at my reaction and I flinched again. 'Steph, honey, I promise, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to take you home and make sure you're alright. I won't do anything you don't want me to. Let me take you home. Please, ciela.' I saw a look of utmost surprise on Bobby's face when Lester called me that, but the Spanish had a calming effect. My shaking lessened a little.

'No haré daño a tú,' he said slowly, as if testing out the effect. It was almost the same as it had been when Ranger spoke Spanish to me – comforting, making me feel safe, and normally – from Ranger at least – it turned me on, although it didn't this time.

'Let us take you home, Steph,' Bobby said softly from just behind Lester. Ram was stood just inside the door, watching everything carefully, his gun in his hand.

'Yo te guardaré. No es nada tener miedo de si seas conmigo. Please, Steph. You're safe now. He's gone. Let me take you home.' Lester was crouching in front of me, not too close, but close enough. He didn't try to touch me, he just sat there, waiting for me to trust him.

'I don't want to go home,' I whispered. The unreasonable fear that if I did, Mike could somehow get to me was floating in my mind. Logically, I knew that he would be in jail and no more able to get to me than I was to get to Ranger, but fear is not a logical emotion.

'Where do you want to go? Your parents?' Lester asked. I shook my head.

'I don't want them to know what happened. Can… can I stay with you?' ****

Lester looked surprised, but I didn't want to be alone either, and I knew that Lester would live in one of the safest places in Trenton. There was some quality about him that was similar to Ranger… similar enough that I could have almost as much trust in Lester as I did in Ranger.

'If you're sure that's what you want,' Lester said. I nodded. 'Can you walk out?' I thought about that for a second and shook my head. I was fairly certain my legs weren't going to support me yet. 'Ok. I'm going to pick you up and carry you so please don't hit me or anything.'

Lester came closer and stretched his arms out. I didn't hit him, but I couldn't help the trembling. Feeling the power in his arms I knew I couldn't do anything to stop him hurting me, even though he said he wouldn't. Yet even as the fear of it invaded me, the implacable feeling of safety that Ranger's arms always gave me stole over me and I reacted to it, curling into his chest and sighing slightly.

Lester's arms tightened for a second and then relaxed again as he carried me out of the storeroom and into the cool night air. We approached a Bronco and Bobby opened the door. Lester moved to put me down but I curled my hands in his shirt.

'Don't leave me,' I whispered. Lester looked down at me for a moment and then nodded. He set me on the seat and took one arm away from me to extract the keys from his pocket. He tossed them to Bobby.

'Call Junior to check in. We're pressing extra charges.' Bobby nodded and climbed into the driver's seat as Ram got in the other side. Lester shifted me over to make room for himself but instead of going far enough to put my seat belt on, I stayed close enough to keep contact with him. I didn't want to lose the feeling of safety yet.

Lester seemed to understand, because he wrapped his arms around me during the silent drive. I didn't sleep even though I was tired enough to, but I didn't pay attention to where we were going either, so I was somewhat surprised when I looked around and recognised the RangeMan garage. I looked at Lester and his lips twitched.

'Several of the guys live in this building. I'm one of them.' I nodded. I'd be safe, then. This place was like Fort Knox. Lester helped me out of the truck but I swayed on my feet and would have fallen if he hadn't caught me. He picked me up again and we followed Bobby to the elevator. The doors opened onto the third floor and a furious Tank standing legs akimbo and arms crossed.

I shrank back against Lester instinctively and his arms tightened. 'What do you want, Tomas?' he demanded. Tank's eyes narrowed and I began to shake again. Lester's arms tightened and he shifted slightly, almost as if getting ready to run.

'I want to know what the hell you thought you were doing,' Tank stated in a dangerously calm voice. I pressed my face into Lester's neck. 'I got back three minutes ago and the first thing I hear is that Junior and Vince are having trouble at the station because they're trying to add attempted rape to a skip's charges. Then when I try to listen to the tape _there isn't one_. How could you be so fucking careless th-'

'TOMAS!' Lester yelled, interrupting Tank's increasingly loud rant. Tank glared at him. 'This isn't helping Steph. You can bollock me all you want later but right now I'm going to look after Steph and you're getting out of here until you've calmed down. Bobby. Ram.' In response to whatever command Lester had relayed with their names, Bobby and Ram moved forward and shifted Tank to the side, allowing Lester to carry me down the corridor. I noticed how he carefully shielded my body with his.

He stopped in front of a door for a moment and opened it, and then we were inside and the door was shut and I was safe. He carried me straight over to the couch and sat down with me cradled in his lap. I looked up at him, confused.

'You can cry now,' he told me.

It was like his words broke a dam. Tears poured out of me and sobs wracked my body. I couldn't believe I'd nearly been raped. It's every woman's nightmare and it had been so close to happening to _me_. You always think that even though the possibility's always there, it'll never actually happen to you. But it would have.

Through it all Lester just sat there and rubbed my back, holding me close, saying nothing. It struck me again how like Ranger he was. I didn't know Ranger _that_ well, but if I had to guess I would say that Ranger would have done exactly what Lester did. Except that maybe Mike would have been more seriously hurt.

At last the sobs eased and the tears slowed. I wiped my eyes but I didn't move away from Lester. He was a comforting presence – solid and _there_. He would protect me, I knew that. After a few minutes he caught my chin and made me look at him.

'For someone who was nearly raped a half hour ago, you're amazingly comfortable with me now,' he commented. I coloured a little but shrugged.

'You feel like Ranger.' I thought about that for a moment. Then, 'Are you related to him?' I asked accusingly. Lester laughed. A throw-your-head-back-and-move-your-whole-body laugh, not just the amused chuckle I sometimes got from the Merry Men or Ranger.

'Yeah, Bombshell. Not many people realise that. I'm his half brother.' I gaped at Lester. That had been a suspicion; I hadn't expected it to be _true._ I was even more surprised that he'd actually answered me. Lester chuckled again. 'There's not much of a family resemblance. We have the same Cuban mother but Ranger's father was a Cuban emigrant as well, whereas my father was American. I have more of his colouring than I do my mother's. What made you ask?' He sounded genuinely curious, but I wasn't sure how to explain.

'I don't know. Ranger just…' I ducked my head against Lester's shoulder. 'I feel safe, in his arms. I feel like nothing bad can happen when he holds me even though I know that's stupid. I trust him instinctively, almost blindly. I always have, but I don't know why. Nothing's as strong with you as it is with him, but it's still there.'

Lester's fingers slipped beneath my chin and he tried to make me look at him again. It took him longer this time. He opened his mouth to speak but I interrupted him. 'I don't want to talk about it.' He shut his mouth and accepted my wish with a short nod and a look like we'd get back to it later. 'How did you… you know… know I would cry then?' I asked, needing to change the subject.

Lester shrugged. 'I had a baby sister. It's what she would have done. She would have acted brave until we were alone, acted like it hadn't mattered, hadn't affected her, and then she would have sobbed all over me. You're a lot like her, so I figured you might do the same.'

'You have a sister?' An expression of pain passed briefly across his face.

'I had a sister. She died four years ago.'

'Omigod, I'm so sorry, I didn't-'

'It's ok, ciela. It was a long time ago. I don't talk about it.' I nodded. I would like to know what happened but I really wasn't about to press him, not if he didn't want to talk about it. Hopefully he'd know he could if he wanted to.

I looked around his apartment, curious. It was one big room, with a section to the left of it separated by a half wall for a small kitchen area with a fridge and small hob. A table with two chairs sat against the wall just to the left of the door into the corridor and the TV sat to the door's right with two couches and an arm chair grouped around the coffee table in front of it.

Behind the couches was a large king bed with two nightstands, a bookshelf against the wall between it and the couches. Opposite the bookshelf was a desk with a hi-tech laptop on it, and beyond that were two doors, which I assumed led to the bathroom and a closet. It was a nice apartment, everything was very high quality and the décor was masculine, but nice. Lester had knick-knacks lying on most of the surfaces and it felt lived in.

'Can I have a shower? I feel dirty and I don't like it,' I said. Lester didn't answer, but he carried me into the bathroom and deposited me on the toilet seat, saying he'd go get what I needed. 'Do you have a shirt or something I can wear? I don't especially want to put these back on.' He nodded and disappeared.

I looked around the bathroom while I waited. It was about three times the size of mine, and done very nicely in white and slate grey; the metal was matte silver. There was a large sink and lots of free counter space, the toilet I was sitting on and a double shower, but no tub.

Lester came back in carrying a thick towel and a black shirt that I almost rolled my eyes at. He grinned at me. 'Sorry. I don't have many colours in my wardrobe. Take as long as you need, I'll be right outside.' I nodded and took the towels from him.

When he'd left, I got gingerly to my feet, set the towel and shirt down and stepped into the shower. It was heaven, despite the pain. I let the water pound over me and wash Mike's touch off. When I'd scrubbed thoroughly three times and felt like my skin was on fire, I stepped out. I dried hurriedly and pulled the shirt over my head; it was so big it came almost down to my knees.

Bobby and Tank were waiting on the couches as well when I walked, well, hobbled out. Bobby immediately got to his feet. 'Can I have a word with you, Steph?' he asked. I nodded weakly and Tank and Lester left. Bobby sat back down and indicated for me to sit, and then he pulled a small white bag out of his pocket. 'What's this?' he asked, handing it to me. I looked inside and found the pregnancy test kit my mother had gotten me.

I felt the blood leave my face as I remembered that I might be pregnant. With all that had happened tonight I'd actually forgotten for a while. 'Uh… That's… It's… it's something my mother picked up for me because she thinks I might be… you know. I haven't taken it yet.'

'Is there any chance that the skip hurt the baby?' I dropped Bobby's gaze and kind of shrugged. 'You need to find out of you're pregnant, Bombshell. Because if you are, what happened tonight might have affected it and we need to find out if it did.' I nodded reluctantly.

'I know. I just… I can't deal with it right now. I'm tired. I need to sleep. I'll do it in the morning.' Bobby looked hard at me for a moment and then nodded.

'Ok. But I want you to promise me you'll do the test in the morning. You need to know, Bombshell.'

'Yeah. I'll do it, just not right now. Tell the guys I've gone to bed? And don't let Lester sleep on the couch. This is his apartment.' Bobby grinned so I glared back at him. He chuckled as he left the room and I slid into the bed. I sank into the soft mattress and sleep stole towards me immediately. Just before it claimed me I felt Lester slip in beside me.

'Night, ciela,' he murmured. I couldn't answer before I fell asleep.

**Chapter Thirteen**

When I woke in the morning there was cotton in my mouth and my eyes were glued together. I shifted and froze. This wasn't my bed. Where the hell was I? I shifted again and bit my lip with pain. The pain brought the memory rushing back and I whimpered. Before I could do anything else Lester rushed over.

'Steph? Are you alright?' I blinked up at him.

'Yeah. I just hurt.' I paused as I remembered Bobby's instructions. Hmm. No way was I doing it with Lester in the other room, so I needed some excuse to get rid of him. 'What time is it?'

'Half ten,' he answered after a glance at his watch. I smiled. Perfect.

'Could you do me a big favour?' I asked. Lester nodded his head warily. 'Would you mind running to McDonald's for me?'

'Bobby said not to leave you alone.'

'Well, if he has a problem with it, tell him to see me… after I've had the Cure.'

'The Cure?'

'I have a pounding headache. The best way to get rid of it is a coke and large fries from McDonald's. Trust me.' Lester appeared to think while I crossed my fingers and hoped. I had to get him out of here. Eventually he nodded. 'Thank you.'

I sat up to get out of bed and gasped as pain seared through my abdomen. I thought through my options. I could ask someone to come help me, but I had no desire to do that. I could wait here until Lester got back, but then I wouldn't know if I was pregnant and I'd have to explain it to him and I didn't want to do that either. Or I could grit my teeth and bear it and do it myself. I went with the third option.

'Ok. You can do this, Steph. It's just a little stick. All you do is pee on it and it tells you whether you're carrying Ranger's baby or not. No biggie.' I rolled my eyes. Now I was talking to myself. I took a deep breath and followed the instructions, then waited with my eyes screwed up for the results.

I opened my eyes three minutes later and looked at the test. There was a little blue plus in the circle. I checked the instructions. Yup, just what I thought. I'm pregnant.

I panicked as memories I'd forced myself to forget for the last seven years resurfaced. I dropped the stick and hurried into Lester's room, ignoring the pain, looking for something – anything – that I could wear. I pulled on sweats that I had to roll several times and a long-sleeved t-shirt. I didn't bother with shoes, I just had to get out, escape.

I made my way to the door wincing with every step and grabbed a pair of keys from the counter just to pull the door open and come face-to-face with Lester. He took a step back in surprise, allowing me to rush past him and I sped up as I headed for the stairs. 'Steph! Where are you going?' I didn't pause to answer him and I didn't wait for the elevator – Lester might have caught me.

I ran down to the garage in a blind panic, one arm wrapped around my belly, pointing the key fob I'd snitched and pressing the unlock button. I climbed into the SUV that flashed and started the engine. When I pulled up to the garage gate I just pointed the key fob at it and pressed random buttons. There was a loud mechanical sound and I hoped I'd finally hit the right button, but instead of the gate going up another gate started to come down.

'Shit! I don't want to be any more fucking shut in that I already am, I need to _escape_! Stop going down and get the hell up again!' I yelled, pressing more buttons. The gate slid to a stop and then started to move up again. I pressed more buttons and the other gate started to go up as well and I put my foot down. I saw Tank coming out of the stairwell just as I screamed up the ramp.

I raced through Trenton, heading straight for Mary Lou's. She was the one I ran to the last time this happened and I knew she could help me now. I screeched to a stop in front of her house, thanking God that her minivan was parked in the driveway, and rushed up the path. The door opened before I got there.

'Steph! What on earth's happened?' Mary Lou pulled me inside and sat me down on the sofa next to her. I was sobbing, taking big hiccupping breaths as I tried to tell her what had happened.

'I s-slept with R-ranger several weeks ago. I've b-been throwing up for two w-weeks, and my mom c-came over and s-saw, so she bought me a p-pregnancy test kit and then the g-guys came and I did a d-distraction for them and I almost got r-raped and Bobby found the t-test kit and told me I had to t-take it because the skip might have h-hurt the b-b-baby and I took it and I'm p-pregnant with Ranger's ch-child and I don't know w-what to do.'

Used to me as she was, Mary Lou had no trouble understanding me, although anyone else probably would have. 'And now it's Dickie all over again because Ranger's been gone for weeks and he doesn't want me and he doesn't do relationships and he told me to go back to Joe but I don't love Joe and I broke up with him and I don't know what to do!'

Mary Lou wrapped her arms around me and let me cry. Halfway through I heard the front door slam open, so I fumbled my gun out of the back of the sweats where I'd tucked it because I had to protect my baby as well as me and Mary Lou. Lester, followed by Tank and Bobby, came into the living room. They all put their hands up when they saw the gun, although I don't know why because I was shaking so badly I didn't have a hope in hell of actually hitting anything I aimed at.

Mary Lou sprang off the couch and put her hands on her hips. 'I know you three want to protect Stephanie but she's in no danger at the moment and in no state to be interrogated by you. So you can just wait in the kitchen while I deal with this crisis and I'll come and get you when you can see her.' The three of them exchanged looks and then turned and walked back out. Mary Lou sat back down next to me and wiped my tears away.

'Do you want to keep this baby?' she asked quietly.

'Of course I do!' I answered immediately, not even thinking about it. She raised an eyebrow at me and I dropped her gaze. 'It's Ranger's, Mary Lou. I… I couldn't destroy something that he and I made together. And no, I don't want to talk about it, I want to live in denial land until he comes back to face the mess he's made.'

'That's fair enough. I won't press you, as long as you know you can come to me if you ever need to talk.' I nodded and Mary Lou smiled at me. 'So. Now what are you going to do? You're going to need to tell those guys, Steph, unless you want me to do it?'

'No, I'll do it. I'll need to tell my parents as well, but I think I want a little time to get used to the idea before I do that, so you can't tell anyone, ok?' She nodded, her eyes kind. 'Mary Lou, how can I raise a baby when half the time I forget to feed my hamster?' I whispered.

'You'll be fine, Steph, and you'll have lots of people to help you. Don't worry, everything will be fine. At least until your baby is a teenager and so beautiful that you have to fight the boys or girls off with a stick!' That had the intended effect and we laughed together for a minute. When we calmed down I was feeling slightly better. Maybe I could be a mother after all.

'Thanks, Mary Lou,' I said, hugging her.

'Don't worry about it, what are friends for?' she asked, laughing. 'Do you want me to get the guys now?' I took a deep breath and nodded. I could just imagine how this conversation was going to go.

The phone rang while Mary Lou was in the kitchen and I could hear the muted sounds of her conversation. Her face was apologetic when she came back into the living room, followed by Tank, Lester and Bobby.

'I'm sorry Steph, that was the boys' school. Kenny's sick, I have to go get him. You can stay here if you want but I'll be coming home soon with a screaming boy, so you probably want to go somewhere quieter. Will you be ok?'

'I'll be fine, Mare, thanks. I hope Kenny's better and I'll see you soon.' She hugged me and left, and I turned to look at the guys. 'I'm not talking here, save it until we get back to RangeMan.' Tank nodded and we headed back to the RangeMan building. It was a silent journey and then we were all seated in Lester's apartment and they were looking at me expectantly.

**Chapter Fourteen**

'What happened, Steph?' Lester asked quietly.

'I need some food,' I said. Tank disappeared and reappeared a moment later with a sandwich for me. I scarfed it down and Lester repeated his question. He was seated at the opposite end of the couch to me, watching me closely. Tank was lounging in the big armchair and Bobby was sprawled on the other couch. I caught his gaze.

'My mother was right,' I told him softly. 'I am pregnant.'

There was dead silence for about two seconds and then Tank leapt to his feet with a murderous look on his face. 'Where is he, Steph? I'm going to save Ranger the trouble and kill him!'

'Kill who, Tank?' I asked warily, unsure what he was thinking and scared of what he might do.

'Morelli!' he exclaimed, in a 'well duh' voice. My eyes widened and I stared at him for a while, unsure what to say. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised that the guys would assume it was Morelli's. After all, we had been together up until recently and I didn't think Ranger would have told them what happened.

'Uh…' I said, not sure how to explain. Jesus, I didn't _want_ to explain that I'd slept with their boss and then he'd run out on me leaving only a note saying that it couldn't work between us and I was supposed to go back to Morelli!

'It's not Morelli's, is it?' Lester asked. I stared at my hands and shook my head, and there was more silence, like they weren't quite sure what to say or how to handle this. I guess that was understandable. I mean, how often are they likely to find themselves in this situation? It's not the kind of thing that occurs every day, at least not in one person's life.

'But… who else have you slept with?' Bobby asked. I winced. I didn't want to tell them, so I didn't say anything.

'Was it Ric?' Lester asked after a moment. I hesitated and then nodded slowly. I heard them suck their breath in. 'Is that why he left?' Lester asked. I nodded again, causing one of the tears that had pooled along my lower lids to slip down my cheek. Lester pulled me closer and held me tight as I curled into him.

'Are you… going to keep the baby?' Tank asked slowly. I looked up at him, and wondered what he, and the others, were thinking. Were they thinking I was a slut, jumping out of Morelli's bed and into Ranger's? Were they going to abandon me? Not that I would have an abortion, but what would they think about it if I did? What would they think of the fact that I'd already had one?

'Yes,' I whispered. 'I… last time, I couldn't but this… this baby is Ranger's. I can't destroy something of Ranger's, not something this precious. I know he already has a daughter, but…' my voice trailed off as another tear slid down my cheek.

'Last time?' Tank asked very quietly. I nodded and studied my hands again. I saw Tank drop back into his armchair out of the corner of my eye and run a hand over his head.

'You guys know about my divorce, right?' I glanced up to see them shake their heads, puzzled expressions on all three faces. 'You don't? I thought Ranger would have told you.' They shook their heads again. 'Oh. This might take a little while then.' I snuggled deeper into Lester and he wrapped his arms comfortably around me. I sighed a little, wishing I was wrapped in Ranger instead.

'I got married right out of college. It was a stupid thing to do and I was doing what everyone else wanted me to do rather than what I wanted to do because I didn't know what I wanted to do. I did what girls in the Burg are raised to do. We go to college, we get married, we get a job until we have kids and then we stay home and look after them. Unfortunately I found my husband bare-assed on the dining room table less than nine months after the ceremony.

'Of course, I left him and I started the messiest divorce the Burg has ever seen. But three weeks after I found him I realised I was pregnant. I went to Mary Lou and we decided that maybe starting a family would change Dickie's mind. Maybe he could be loyal to me if we were going to have a baby. So I went round to his place all set to give him a second chance.

'It took me a long time to convince him I was even pregnant, and when I had, he wouldn't believe it was his. He figured that because he'd slept around I had, too, even though I never cheat. He wanted nothing to do with me or a baby that he wouldn't take responsibility for. So I eventually decided that I wasn't ready to be a mother, especially not a single mother, and I had an abortion. Most of the time I know I made the right decision but sometimes I can't help but think that killing my own child could never be the right decision.

'I've done it once. I could never do it again, especially not since it's Ranger's baby… it took me a long time to recover last time. I don't think I would this time.' The apartment was quiet after I'd finished my story. I couldn't look at the guys, I couldn't see their contempt. In my mind, they were condemning me for killing my child and I couldn't deal with it any longer. I started to struggle off the couch.

'Steph, wait,' Lester said, holding onto me. I just struggled harder as the tears started to pour down my cheeks. Damn, now I know why I've been so emotional in the last couple of weeks. Being pregnant really does a number on your hormones. And I hate crying. 'Ciela, wait, listen to me.'

I looked up slowly, frightened of what I was going to see in his eyes. But there was nothing there except sadness and compassion and anger, although I didn't think that last one was directed at me because the expression on Lester's face didn't reflect any anger. I had a suspicion that might be reserved for Ranger or Dickie.

'Ric has a lot of enemies. We all do, it comes with the jobs we've done and still do. Some of them are in jail, some of them are dead. But some of them aren't. If they found out you were carrying his child, none of them would hesitate to hurt you to get to Ric. I can't let that happen.' His voice was just the tiniest bit rough when he said that. 'Your apartment is ridiculously unsafe. It would be much better if you would move in here, where we know that they can't get to you. And my mind would be much easier if you would allow one of the guys to be with you all the time.'

'Lester, there's no free room in here. There's no bed in here for her to use, even though I agree with you,' Tank said. 'And yes, Steph, it would make my mind easier if you had a bodyguard too. I know you may not like it, but this is what it means to have the kind of life we do. Our loved ones are targets, and we do whatever is necessary to protect them.'

I thought about what the guys had said for a while. I guess they were right, Ranger probably did have a lot of enemies who would use me. I mean, it already happened with Stolle. I wasn't pleased with the idea of having a bodyguard but I understood the reasoning behind it. Just as I couldn't have an abortion, I couldn't let anything happen to my baby. I didn't really know exactly what Ranger did. I didn't know what enemies he might have. I wasn't skilled enough to protect myself. The guys had all of that knowledge and skill. They would keep me safe, as long as I let them.

'I can understand why having a bodyguard would be a good idea,' I said eventually. 'I don't like it, but I accept that you think it's necessary and I won't try and lose whoever it is.' I got three raised eyebrows for that. 'What? You know more about this kind of stuff than I do. And I don't want anything to happen to my baby. But I won't let you kick someone out of their apartment for me.'

'You can stay with me. That is, if you don't mind, Steph,' Lester replied. 'I'm not the easiest person to live with.' I looked around; even though it was only really one room it was bigger than my apartment. I would have no complaints from that point of view. I would be safe here. I didn't think Lester would be too bad to live with, but…

'Lester, I'm pregnant. You're going to have to put up with me throwing up in the mornings, which I do regularly, there are going to be screwy mood swings, weird food cravings and I'm going to blow up as big as a house.' I screwed my face up; I was _not_ looking forward to that part. 'Are you going to want to live with me?'

'I can deal with those things as long as you're honest with me,' Lester said, giving me a sharp look.

'I'll be as honest as I can. I told Mary Lou, there are some things I don't want to deal with until Ranger comes back. There are things you might want to know that I will keep between me and him. Can you understand that?' Lester nodded, and I smiled. 'Then everything's good. Thanks, I don't know what I can do to repa-'

'You don't need to, Steph. Ric's my brother and I'll always help him out, but apart from that I like you and I don't want anything to happen to you.' I smiled, and Lester smiled back. For the first time since that morning, I had the feeling that maybe everything would be ok, maybe there are enough people who care about me to help me. Even if my mother disowns me, Mary Lou and these guys just might be enough to help me through it.


	4. Part 4

**Chapter Fifteen**

The guys all had satisfied expressions, I guess because I hadn't fought them on the issue of having a bodyguard. They knew me well enough to know that I would have had the circumstances been normal. But this _was_ normal for me now. I would never have just myself to think of again. There would always be someone else, and my decisions now had to be made with that in mind.

Nature was calling and I made to get up off the couch, but collapsed back onto it as the pain from last night reasserted itself. I didn't hurt when I was still and I'd been way too panicked earlier to pay it any attention, but now that I was calmer it was definitely clamouring for some attention. I hissed and one hand flew to my abdomen, pressing slightly in a futile attempt to relieve the pain.

'Steph? What's wrong?' Bobby asked, half rising to his feet and watching me with a concerned expression. I took a few deep breaths until the pain receded a little more and looked up at Bobby.

'I don't know. Last night… it hurts.' I closed my eyes and just tried to breathe as the pain faded again. I wasn't in any hurry to move, but the Merry Men had other ideas, unfortunately.

'You need to get checked out, Steph,' Bobby said softly but firmly. I didn't think I'd be able to argue this one. 'I don't know exactly what happened but it's probably serious. I asked you last night if there was any chance the skip hurt your baby and I would say there is a chance. You need to tell someone what he did to you so that they can check you're not seriously hurt. We can take you to the hospital-'

'No! I hate hospitals. I'm going to be spending enough time there in the next eight months. I don't need to increase it any.' Bobby sighed and came over to sit next to me. He turned my head to look at him and there was a very serious expression in his eyes.

'Think about this, Stephanie. You've obviously been hurt. You're pregnant. Apply the same logic to this as you did to having a bodyguard or moving in here. You don't want anything to happen to your baby. I'm not saying it has, but there is a chance something already happened. If you get it checked out now probably it won't develop into anything serious. If you leave it, it might. Do you really want to take that chance?'

I looked steadily at Bobby but his expression didn't waver. 'No, I don't,' I said eventually, very quietly. 'But I still hate hospitals. I know enough people at all the local ones that the news of my pregnancy would be all over the Burg before I left it. I can't deal with that. I want to tell people in my own time and my own way.'

Bobby relaxed and nodded, smiling slightly at me, causing me to relax, too. 'I understand that. There's a private medical facility we use when we don't want people asking questions. It's completely confidential, no one would find anything out from anyone who works there. Will you let us take you there?' I sighed, but figured I really did need to get checked out. It had _hurt_ when I tried to get up.

'Fine. Let me get dressed first, though.'

'Why?' Bobby asked. 'You'll only need to take your clothes off again once you get there and those are just as easy as the next thing to take off. Do you really want to put jeans on if it hurts?' I sighed and rolled my eyes.

'I guess not. But I need the bathroom.' Bobby and Tank stood and I moved to follow them, but the pain hit again before I could, worse this time. I rested against Lester's chest, gasping slightly. I wasn't quite used to feeling pain in this spot. Lester slid an arm under my knees and before I knew what was happening he'd swept me into his arms and was on his feet. I yelped and threw my arms around his neck, feeling his chuckle vibrate in his chest.

He helped me into and out of the bathroom and then I was carried out of the apartment and downstairs to the garage. Tank had to stay behind and work but the other two had the time to come with me. Bobby drove us and like last night, Lester held me in the back snuggled up to his chest.

He tried to hold me still and stop the car from jerking me around but he couldn't stop all the jolts, and I cried out each time I was jolted too much. There wasn't anything to take my mind off the pain anymore since I'd put the whole pregnancy thing to the back of it to return to later.

It was about a half hour drive, out of Trenton and into a large gated complex with lots of low, small buildings. It didn't look like a hospital. The grounds were beautifully landscaped with lots of trees and benches in the shady areas. It looked nice, like it wouldn't be too hard to spend some time here, if it weren't for the fact that it was basically a hospital.

Bobby pulled the car into a parking lot and opened the door for Lester to lift me out. We headed towards what might have been the largest building but it was kind of hard to tell. Inside there was a high desk along one wall and lots of chairs, only a few with people actually sitting in them. There was a café in one corner and a small shop in another.

The receptionist looked up at us and grinned. 'Well well, if it isn't Bobby Brown,' she said, sounding as if she was about to tease him. 'How's that wrist of yours doing?' If I didn't know better I would have said Bobby was blushing. I looked up at Lester when I heard him snicker and he was grinning.

'He broke it skydiving. He tried to land on his head,' he informed me. I glanced at Bobby, who shifted uncomfortably, and burst out laughing. I calmed down quite quickly since it hurt and the boys sobered and turned to the receptionist.

'What is it this time?' she asked with a long-suffering tone. 'At least the two of you are in one piece. I assume the patient is the lovely lady here?' She glanced at me, one eyebrow raised. How come everyone can do that except me?

'Steph had a little… run-in with a skip last night,' Lester began, sounding as if he wasn't quite sure how much he should say.

'She's pregnant, and we need to check that the baby is alright after last night,' Bobby said bluntly. I grimaced. It didn't sound too good when he put it like that. He gave her my details and the receptionist nodded, her expression now as serious as the guys', and picked up a phone, dialing a short extension number.

'Someone will be with you as quickly as they can.' Bobby nodded and we settled into chairs to wait. Lester didn't put me down so I stayed on his lap, listening to his heart beat. I was nervous about what was going to happen and the steady rhythm comforted me.

It wasn't long before we were approached by a woman in a long white coat. She was quite young, maybe late twenties, with shoulder length red hair tied back in a simple pony tail. Her eyes were a light grey, but warm, not cold. She smiled as she approached, and her eyes widened slightly as she got a good look at Lester and Bobby.

'Hi, my name is Dr. Delmar, but call me Nessa. Everyone does. Stephanie Plum, correct? Let's get you checked out, if you'll follow me.' I smiled back as Lester rose gracefully to his feet. Nessa gave him a doubtful look. 'Are you sure you want him to come with us?' she asked.

'Seeing as how it's painful to walk right now, yes,' I answered. Nessa's expression turned concerned and she turned and led us down a corridor, Bobby following us as well. I was lost about three turns in, but eventually we stopped in front of a door with her name on it. Lester set me gently down on the examining table and stepped back.

'You want me to stay, Steph?' he asked quietly. I smiled at him and shook my head. I was pretty sure this wasn't going to be pleasant and I didn't really want him to get that intimately acquainted with me. 'We'll be right outside if you need us,' he assured me, before leaving with Bobby and closing the door quietly.

Nessa took a deep breath and let out a long sigh as she watched them leave. I grinned at her when she turned around. 'You should see their Boss,' I told her.

'Any chance he'll get down here?' she asked hopefully.

'No. He's not around at the moment.' Even I could hear that my voice had gone blank. Well, as blank as I could do.

'You got a problem with their boss?' she asked kindly, looking for something in her desk. I snorted.

'You could say that. I'm a little pissed at him right now.' Nessa evidently found what she was looking for because she put a piece of paper covered in writing on her desk, sat down and looked at me.

'Now, why don't you tell me why you're here and then we'll see what I can do.' I took a deep breath. I hadn't talked about this yet and I wasn't sure I wanted to. Then I thought of what Bobby had said. I had to do this for my baby.

'I was working last night. I was supposed to distract this guy and lead him out of a bar so that the guys could take him down. Unfortunately, I distracted him too well and we didn't make it outside. He took me into a storeroom and… he tried to…' I trailed off. There were tears pooled along my lower lids and my voice was shaking. Not to mention the rest of me.

'It's ok, Steph. Take your time. I know this is hard.' I nodded again and took another deep breath. I had to do this.

'He… he tried to rape me. The guys broke in and managed to stop it going quite that far, but he still…' I stopped again. I was not in the habit of discussing sex. Not that this was sex as such, but it was kind of the same thing. I didn't even get into the nitty gritty details with Mary Lou. I waved my hand as if that could explain everything.

'Steph, I understand that this is hard for you, but I need you to tell me what he did so I know what to be looking for. The other option is to just give you a complete physical.' I shuddered. I hated them with a passion. I had a feeling this wasn't going to be any different, and I liked Nessa. I closed my eyes and decided to just spit the words out.

'He was groping me and I'm pretty sure he bruised my breasts. They hurt, but they hurt because of the pregnancy anyway. He was… biting me, my throat and my breasts. He… two fingers… inside me. It hurt. A lot. Still hurts. In… out. The guys, they stopped it.' I wasn't sure how helpful that had been, it hadn't sounded particularly coherent to me, but I wasn't sure I could do better yet.

I opened my eyes and Nessa was smiling reassuringly at me. 'It's ok, that's what I needed to know. You can relax now. How far along are you?' she asked.

'Um, a month and a half, I guess. Something like that,' I replied. Nessa nodded, wrote something down and then got up. She looked at me for a minute and I couldn't tell what she was thinking.

'I need you to put this on and then lie down for me. I can leave the room if you'd like.' She handed me a white robe from a cupboard.

'What's the point? You're going to see everything anyway.' She smiled and shrugged slightly, turning away to let me change. I slipped off the table and staggered as the pain returned. I reached for something, anything to hold onto and was caught by slender arms. Nessa helped me to her chair and I just sat and tried to regain my breath. Damn. The pain was getting worse each time I tried to move.

'Do you want me to get one of those men to help you?' Nessa asked after a moment. I nodded, still gasping for breath. Nessa opened the door and Lester followed her in, looking concerned. He glanced at me and shot Nessa a glare.

'Steph?' I looked up at him. He crouched by my chair and looked at me. 'Are you alright?'

'I don't think so, Lester. Can you help me get into this? Nessa needs to examine me but I can't even stand up anymore.' Lester nodded and rose to his feet. He pulled my shirt over my head, swallowing as he tried to direct his eyes away from my chest.

'Does she need to take her bra off?' he asked Nessa in a slightly strangled voice. Nessa just nodded. Lester closed his eyes for a second and his jaw clenched, and then he stepped around the chair and undid the clasp. I blushed furiously as he gently pulled the straps down my arms and then wrapped the robe around me.

Just the bottoms left now, then. Lester wrapped one arm around my shoulders and helped me stand. I couldn't stand up straight without whimpering. Somehow, between the three of us, we got the sweats and my panties off and me settled on the table. Lester slipped out the door with a blank expression firmly in place.

**Chapter Sixteen**

Nessa made a thorough examination of me, poking and prodding in places I didn't even know existed. She disappeared for a while when she was done and came back wheeling in a very hi-tech looking device.

'This is an ultra-sound machine. I just want to check on the embryo to make sure everything's fine and then you're all done,' she told me. 'You need to pull the robe up so I can get to your belly.' I did as requested and jumped as the cold gel hit my skin. 'Sorry.' She grinned at me and I grunted.

It seemed to take an awfully long time for her to do the scan. I'd gone with Mary Lou for one of hers one time when Lenny couldn't make it, and it had only taken a few minutes before the nurse had printed out a picture and we were on our way. Nessa was looking at mine for a good twenty minutes.

'I just need to get a second opinion on this, I'll be right back,' she told me, getting up and heading out the door. I started to panic. These things were routine, she should know what she's looking at. If she needs a second opinion, then something must be wrong.

I started to hyperventilate. I was petrified. I didn't think I'd ever been so scared in my life. Something was wrong with my baby, and it had to be serious. Nessa might be young, but she had to be well qualified if she was working unsupervised in a place like this.

Nessa came back in with an older doctor in tow and noticed my panic immediately. 'Steph, calm down. I don't think anything's wrong, I just want to get a second opinion before I tell you something that I could be wrong about. You're in the very early stages of pregnancy so being able to tell anything from an ultra-sound is hard. There's nothing to worry about.'

It was alright for her to say, she wasn't having Ranger's baby! The second doctor took over without a word and scanned me several times, or what felt like it. I was tense and worried the whole time, scenario after horrible scenario going through my head. What if there was something wrong with the baby? What if it had been hurt last night? After another good ten minutes, she turned to Nessa and nodded.

'I think you're right,' she said, then turned back to me. 'As Nessa said, it is very hard to tell anything at this stage, but Nessa and I are almost certain you're having twins. There are two distinct shapes, and while one might be something else, I doubt it.'

I lay there and stared at the doctor in shock. Twins. I was having twins. I was freaked out enough about having one baby and now they tell me there's two! I was seriously doubting my ability to take care of one baby. How was I supposed to take care of two? I was still trying to process this information as the second doctor left and Nessa started to clean up the mess the gel had made.

'Do you want me to get Lester in here to help you dress, and then I can tell all three of you what's going on? Or would you rather they not know?' she asked when she'd finished.

'Um… they'll both want to know. Bobby is some kind of medic, I guess he'll be taking care of me when we get back, so that sounds fine.' Nessa nodded, tossed the towels she'd been using in the trash and stuck her head out of the door.

Getting dressed was a long and painful experience, but it was over eventually. I was sitting in Lester's lap on the examining table and Bobby was leaning against the wall while Nessa sat in her chair and looked at me.

'Right, Steph. The damage feels a lot worse than it is. It's a very sensitive area, so even the smallest thing feels a lot more painful than the same thing elsewhere and you're extra sensitive at the moment anyway because of the pregnancy. You're quite torn up and stretched and you've pulled some of the muscles, but it should heal just fine on its own. Your pregnancy is progressing normally, but I would recommend you make your first appointment fairly soon just to be sure that there are no lasting effects.

'I'm going to put you on bed rest for the next two weeks. There is to be absolutely no movement more than is necessary; bathroom and showers are all that's acceptable and only if one of these guys isn't around to carry you. After that time you should be pretty much healed although you should still be careful. No sex for at least six weeks.'

'That would be hard,' I muttered under my breath. Nessa smiled and Bobby smirked. I could feel Lester silently laugh and jabbed his ribs with my elbow.

'Do you have any questions?'

'Yeah. Can I come here during my pregnancy? I like you and I know that things will be confidential here. I wouldn't have any secrets if I went to any other local hospital.' I could see that I'd startled Nessa because her eyes widened and she stared at me. Bobby was staring at me too, but his expression was slightly more controlled. I couldn't see Lester's face.

'Um, if you're sure that's what you want.' She sounded rather hesitant. 'I have to tell you though, we don't get that many pregnancies here and I've never taken a woman through one before. I know all the theory of course, and I have all the qualifications, but it's just not the same as experience. There will be people around here to help, so if you're comfortable with them seeing you as well… I see no problem.' She smiled at me so I smiled back.

'I'm sure that will be fine, won't it Lester?' I felt him nod. 'Then I guess I don't have any other questions, except when am I coming for my first appointment?'

'I suggest you come again in two or three weeks, when you've healed and we can check that everything has gone back to normal. You should be able to make an appointment on your way out,' Nessa said. 'If you have any problems, don't hesitate to call me.' She handed me her card.

'I won't.' Lester carried me back out to the car. I fell asleep on the way back and only woke up as Lester was lifting me out. I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my head sleepily on his chest, happy to be carried.

Instead of going back to Lester's apartment like I had assumed we would, I was carried into a large sitting room with about five couches and twice as many armchairs. I looked around in awe. There was a widescreen TV on one wall and a large fireplace with a gas fire on another. Lester settled me on one of the couches while I gazed curiously at him.

'Since you aren't allowed to do anything for yourself, you need to be somewhere that everyone can get to so that they help you when I'm busy. The only people who have access to my apartment are you, Bobby, Tank and me, unless someone uses the emergency code to override everything,' he explained. I guess that made sense.

Lester gave me a quick lesson with the TV and I was left to my own devices for a little while, with instructions to call someone if I wanted anything and under pain of death to not move anywhere on my own.

After I'd watched a couple of movies I was literally starving. I'd noticed my appetite had picked up in the last couple of weeks and now I knew why. I was eating for two now… no, three. Can't forget that.

Just as I was about to call someone to come feed me the door burst open and five guys walked in, laughing and joking amongst themselves. They stopped dead when they saw me and stared, with me staring right back. I didn't recognise any of them.

'Who are you?' I asked, resisting the urge to twist slightly to see them better. I knew it would hurt.

'Shouldn't we be asking you that?' the one at the front asked with a hard voice. I narrowed my eyes at him and would have put my hands on my hips if I had been standing up. I opened my mouth to reply but Bobby burst in before I could. He noticed the obvious hostility in the guys I was still glaring at.

'Shit, I should have known this would happen. Guys, this is Steph, she's staying with us for a while.' One of the guys raised an eyebrow. 'Lester's apartment, and no, they're not involved,' Bobby replied. 'Steph, meet Luc, Finch, Slade, Ray and Archer.' He indicated each one in turn.

Archer and Slade were twins, identical ones. They had skin a few shades darker than Ranger's and dark brown hair with eyes the same colour. Luc was just a couple inches shorter than Tank and had wavy blonde hair slightly longer than a buzz cut and deep blue eyes. Finch was a red head, but not bright red, more a subdued ginger-brown colour with grey eyes. Ray had skin paler than mine, light brown hair and hazel eyes. They were all very built, but I'd expected that.

'Bobby?' He turned his eyes to me, waiting. 'Any chance of some food? I'm starving.' Bobby glanced at his watch before looking back at me apologetically.

'Oops, sorry Bombshell. We were working on a case and forgot the time. Guess you're even more hungry than normal now you're eating for two, huh?' he asked, heading towards the kitchen area that was in one corner of the room.

'Three,' I corrected, then could have slapped myself. They didn't know I was having twins yet. Bobby froze, as had the rest of the guys when they realised I was pregnant. He turned very slowly to look at me.

'There something you forgot to mention?' he asked carefully. I blushed and dropped his gaze.

'I guess. Nessa did an ultrasound while she was checking me over. That's what she brought the other doctor in for, she wasn't sure what she was seeing. But they're pretty sure. I'm having twins, Bobby. Ranger's twins.' I studied my hands. I hadn't really had a chance to sort through all the emotions of the past couple of weeks yet, everything had happened so fast.

I didn't hear Bobby move until he settled on the couch next to me. 'It'll be ok, Steph. We're all here for you. Ric has a lot of explaining to do when he gets back, but I don't think you'll have much of a problem. Tank, Lester and I are all on your side.' I nodded and tried to swallow the tears. Thankfully, I was successful. I hate crying, even more with an audience. 'Let me fix you something to eat.' He started to get up to head to the kitchen.

'I wouldn't let him do that if I were you,' one of the twins told me, stopping Bobby's movement.

'Why?' A slow smile spread over his face and I started to get a little warm.

'Because he can't cook for shit,' the other twin told me. 'We never let him be camp chef. Not after the first time.'

'What did he do?' I asked curiously. Bobby groaned and fell back against the cushions, his eyes shut.

'Don't tell her. Please don't tell her,' he said. Five smiles widened.

'He set fire to his eyebrows. And then he panicked, and set fire to all of our underwear, which was hanging over the fire to dry.' Bobby groaned again and I burst out laughing. I stopped quite quickly. It hurt. Bobby sat up and looked at me, concerned again.

'Steph?' he asked. I smiled tightly at him.

'I'm fine. Laughing just hurts a little, that's all. Guess I really do have to stay in bed, huh?' I asked, trying to joke. I hate being cooped up. Bobby smiled slightly but his eyes were still serious as he nodded. I sighed. 'Fine. So who can cook for shit around here? Because I am eating for three people and I'm about to eat the couch.'

There were a lot of chuckles for that, and Ray got up and headed to the small kitchenette. Not long after that delicious smells were emanating from it and I was even more hungry. Tank came in then and settled down on the other side of me from Bobby. The TV was on quietly, the guys were talking and I was feeling quite comfortable, apart from my stomach. It was still begging for food.

Lester came in with a duffel bag that he put at the end of the couch I was sitting on just as Ray served the food up. There was enough for everyone, and the room fell quiet except for the sounds of the TV while we ate. I asked for seconds and got them from a grinning Tank. I glared at him.

When I was finished, I stretched gingerly. I was exhausted, I needed the bathroom and I wasn't allowed to walk to it. 'Um, Lester,' I said quietly. He looked over at me, one eyebrow raised. 'I need the bathroom.' He just nodded with a blank expression and picked me up, carrying me to a door in the far corner of the room. He deposited me on the toilet and I did my business, managing to hobble the two feet to the sink and wash my hands.

I opened the door when I was finished and a grinning Lester was holding out a little strappy top and a pair of panties.

'Thought you'd be more comfortable sleeping in these than in what you're wearing now,' he told me. I blushed and took them from him, mumbling a thanks.

Lester carried me back out when I was changed and I stared. One of the couches had been pulled out into a sofa bed and was made up with sheets and pillows. All the guys except Bobby and Tank had disappeared. Lester placed me gently on one side of the sofa bed and began to strip. When he was down to his boxers – thank God he was wearing them – he climbed in the other side. I heard murmured voices but I was too close to sleep to understand.

**Chapter Seventeen**

When I woke I knew I was alone in the bed. There was a big, cold, empty gap next to me. I groaned and tried to roll over, giving up quickly when pain shot through my abdomen and lower. Memory returned and I gasped.

Images flashed before my eyes, quickly, but not so quickly that I couldn't see them properly. Ranger in my bed. Kinelli on top of me with his knife to my throat. Tank telling me to take Ranger's truck. Daniel punching me in the stomach. And then Mike. Everything he'd done to me. Every touch, every word. The absolute terror. Then taking the test. Mary Lou's. The guys. Nessa. Twins. Twins.

Someone touched my cheek gently, and I jumped. I opened my eyes and it was one of the twins from last night. I don't know which one. Probably I wouldn't be able to tell them apart even if I was told which was which now.

'It's ok, honey. Don't cry. Everything's gonna be ok.' I nodded absently and reached up to wipe the tears away. I needed to get some serious thinking done soon so that I could deal with everything that had happened and stuff couldn't sneak up on me like this. I had to get in some sort of control over my emotions. Denial's pretty great, but I had a feeling stuff this big would find some way of sneaking up on me when I wasn't expecting it.

'I'm all right,' I said, looking up into his dark eyes. 'Thanks.' He nodded at me and rose to his feet, turning to settle back into one of the chairs. 'Any chance of some food? I'm starving.' A slow smile curved his lips.

'Sure.' He disappeared from my view and returned with a familiar white pastry bag and a mug of coffee. 'Lester picked these up for you,' he said as he handed the bag to me. I opened it and there were several Boston Crèmes inside. I moaned as I tasted the first sugary goodness. They were gone in record time and I looked mournfully at the empty bag, wishing there were more.

Nature started to call as I drank the coffee. It was bad enough when Lester had to carry me to the bathroom but at least I knew him some and he'd seen me naked when he had to help me change. I didn't know whichever twin it was with me now at all and Lester wasn't around.

'Problem?' he asked as he sat back down after tossing the pastry bag away. I blushed bright red and hid in my coffee cup. 'Tell me. Tank told me to take care of you, get you anything you wanted and he'll have my ass if I don't.'

I glanced back up, slightly surprised. Anything I wanted? Hmm. I could use this… but right now I had more pressing issues. 'I, um… I need the bathroom,' I said in a very small voice. I wasn't looking directly at the guy but I swear he blushed too.

Without a word he picked me up and carried me towards the bathroom. He put me gently down on top of the toilet and walked out. As I had last night, I managed to hobble the two feet to the sink to wash my hands when I was done, and the movement wasn't _quite_ as painful as it had been yesterday. It was still a bitch, but I noticed it had lessened somewhat.

I opened the door and the twin was waiting outside for me. 'Which one are you?' I asked, my voice a little exasperated. He flashed me a grin as he picked me up again.

'Slade. Archer's hair is longer, slightly.' I smiled. I think I like this guy. He set me back on the bed that was a couch again and picked up the remote to the TV.

We watched a couple of movies. Tank, Bobby and Lester came in several times to check on me and Slade was replaced with Luc for an hour or so while I ate lunch. Slade had told me he was going to the gym to kick his brother's ass. I zoned out halfway through the first movie and I don't even know what the second one was. I had some serious thinking to do.

There was a big mix of emotions when I thought about my baby. Well. Babies. Mostly, I was petrified. I found it hard to take care of a _hamster_, how the hell was I supposed to take care of a _child_? Much less two! I didn't know the first thing about caring for babies. They were cute when they weren't yours and they were asleep but I really didn't know much else.

But I wasn't just scared. There was a quiet but spreading sense of absolute joy. Joy that I was going to be a mother. In some part of my mind I'd always wanted to be, it had just been 'in a few years…' and now it was 'in a few months.' I guess the panic I'd felt when I'd thought there might be something wrong was a big clue to the happiness I felt.

I was hurt, too. Hurt because Ranger had slept with me and walked out, leaving me to deal with this on my own. Hurt because I wanted him with me, to help me through my pregnancy and to be by my side, just to experience it with me. I was sad that he wasn't going to be, although I supposed that for all I knew he could turn up tomorrow.

I looked up as the credits started to roll and knew that it was time to tell my family that I was pregnant. My emotions were still all over the place but hopefully now that I knew what most of them were they couldn't surprise me. I didn't like surprises. Lester came up just as I was thinking about asking to talk to him.

'How are you feeling now, Steph?' he asked, settling next to me on the couch. I turned and looked at him while I considered my answer. It was still painful when I moved but not quite so much and my emotions were somewhat more settled than they had been, or at least less unexpected now.

'Better, thanks.' Lester smiled. 'Uh… I don't know whether Bobby or someone else told you, but you should probably know…' I glanced away from him and trailed off. This was quite a big bombshell to drop but there wasn't really any way to do it gently.

'What is it, Steph?' Lester asked quietly. I glanced at him and quickly away. His expression was gentle.

'I, uh… I'm not just pregnant, Lester,' I managed to get out. 'I'm… I'm having twins.' I waited a moment and snuck another glance at Lester. If it had been anyone else I would have said he was shocked but the Merry Men don't really do shocked. Or at least, they don't show it.

'Twins,' Lester murmured. 'You're having twins.' It sounded like he couldn't quite believe it. I couldn't blame him. I wasn't sure the fact had really sunk into me yet either. And I was the one having them! 'I… I don't really know what to say, Bombshell. I don't have much experience with kids.'

'Suffice it to say that two are more than double the work of one,' I muttered. 'Especially when they're twins.' Lester put his arm around me.

'It'll all be ok, Steph,' he said. 'Besides, you've got a whole company of babysitters right here!'

'You volunteering for the four in the morning feed, then?' I asked. Lester shuddered.

'If that's what you need,' he said. I glanced up at him, surprised. He shrugged. 'They're going to be my nephews or nieces. I'll help however I can, especially since my brother's not here to do it.' I guess he was pretty close to Ranger. I wouldn't have done the same for Valerie. Or maybe I would. 'Is there anything you need at the moment?'

'Um, I need to tell my parents and a couple others that I'm pregnant. I can't go out, so… would they be able to come here?' I wasn't sure whether they would. I knew that security was important.

'I think that could probably be arranged. Let me check with Tank, ok?' I nodded and Lester left the room. He appeared with Tank a few minutes later. Slade turned the TV off as they sat down.

'Lester says you want some people to come here so that you can tell them you're pregnant,' Tank began. I nodded but didn't say anything. 'Who do you want to come, Bombshell?' he asked.

'My parents, Grandma Mazur,' Lester and Tank shuddered and I grinned, 'Mary Lou already knows so she doesn't need to come, I can tell Lula and Connie over the phone… but I want to tell Joe in person and before he can find out from someone else.' Tank's expression was dark but not quite as dark as Lester's. 'I know you probably don't like him but we were in a relationship for a couple of years and it only ended recently. It wouldn't be fair to him if he found out from anyone else. I'm not going to go back to him and I don't still love him that way. But he is a friend, and I do owe him this.'

'I suppose that's fair,' Tank said after a small silence. 'If everyone you want to come is free, can you do it this afternoon or do you want more time?'

'This afternoon should be fine. My mother will worry if I don't talk to her soon anyway. Could you phone them for me? I'll probably give away more information than I want to.' Tank nodded. 'Thanks.' He smiled at me and left, I guess to go phone people. I sighed and sat back to wait. This was going to be a fun afternoon.

Tank reappeared twenty minutes later with an unreadable expression. I wondered what had happened on the phone.

'Your family and Joe will be here in about an hour,' Tank said as he sat down.

'Do I have time to have a shower, then? It's been nearly two days. I think it's time I get clean. Especially if my mother is coming.' I muttered the last sentence under my breath but from Lester's snicker it wasn't quiet enough. I glared at him. 'You can help me shower for that, Santos,' I informed him. His blank face slammed down and cut his amusement off.

'Uh… is that really necessary?' he asked, shifting uncomfortably.

'Considering I can't stand up on my own, yes.' I was glad Lester had pissed me off. I could hide my embarrassment behind it, at least for a while. Lester shut his eyes for a moment, then opened them again. His blank face was still firmly in place as he nodded.

'Right. Let's go.' He picked me up and carried me out of the common room. I guessed we were going to his apartment since the bathroom in the common room didn't have a shower. We stopped outside his door. 'Can you put the code in?' he asked. I stared at him.

'Maybe if you tell me what it is,' I snapped. Lester blinked at me, then leant down and whispered the code in my ear. I put it in and pushed the door open for him and then wished I hadn't because it hurt.

Lester carried me straight into the bathroom and put me down on the toilet. 'I'll just grab some clothes for you,' he said as he disappeared again. I raised my eyebrows when he came back in. He was carrying about the only pair of sweats I owned, a big t-shirt and some of my sexier underwear, along with a bag that looked like it contained my toiletries.

'Did you have fun going through my underwear drawers?' I asked. I could have sworn he blushed but he didn't answer me. He put the clothes in a neat pile on the back of the toilet, the contents of the bag in the shower and helped me to stand up.

He helped me undress with brisk but gentle hands and carefully kept his eyes averted. He adjusted the water and I dug my heels in when he tried to get us both into the shower. 'Don't you think it would be fair if you were naked, too?' I asked. I was still hiding behind anger although it was fading rapidly.

Lester glanced at me. I don't know what he saw on my face but whatever it was made him put me back on the toilet and quickly strip his own clothes off. I wondered whether that had really been a good idea now that I could see him. I knew Lester was hot; his clothes didn't do a great job of hiding his body. But knowing that and seeing it were two totally different things.

**Chapter Eighteen**

I kept my mouth shut as we got in the shower this time. Luckily it was a double one and we both fit… just about. It might be double, but that's double for a normal person not double for a man with almost as many muscles as Arnold Schwarzenegger. Lester's not quite as broad-chested as Ranger but it's close.

Lester stood behind me with his hands on my hips as I braced myself against the wall. I stood for a minute and let the water pour over my body. It felt good to be clean, or on the way to clean. I grabbed the shower gel and washed the front of my body with one hand as Lester held me up.

'Could you wash my back?' I asked him. He took the shower gel and I braced my other hand against the wall as well. Leaving one hand on my hip Lester washed my back. It was _almost_ a sensual experience, but he was just slightly too rough for that. 'I'm going to have to turn around to wash my hair, or you're going to get shampoo in your face,' I said when I'd rinsed the soap off.

Lester helped me carefully turn around. I saw him swallow when he looked down at me and he glanced quickly away. I kept my eyes very firmly fixed on his face. He handed me the shampoo and I put a healthy glob in my hand and dropped it again. 'Hold on tight,' I told him. He nodded sharply.

Blushing, I reached up and started to wash my hair. Lester closed his eyes as the blush rose up his neck and into his cheeks. When I was finished I took an automatic step back to wash the shampoo out and pulled myself out of Lester's hands. I cried out as I almost fell but Lester caught me, pulling me against his body as his arms wrapped around me. I swallowed as something hard poked into my belly.

'Ignore it, ciela,' he said softly. I swallowed again and we moved back together so I could rinse my hair. We repeated the process, minus the almost-fall, with the conditioner and I was almost done.

I wanted to shave but I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to. Not my legs, anyway. If Lester held me tight enough I might manage my armpits but there was no way I would be able to bend down and do my legs.

'Um,' I started, with no idea what I was going to say.

'What is it, Steph?' Lester asked quietly.

'I want to shave, but I can't bend down to my legs,' I said in a rush. There was silence for a moment.

'Do you want me to do it?'

'Uh… if you don't mind…'

'You'll have to tell me what to do, but I don't mind. I'm not used to shaving legs,' he told me. I almost giggled as a picture of Lester shaving his legs popped into my head. I was glad I didn't because I knew it would hurt.

I braced myself against the wall again as Lester got the appropriate things. I quickly shaved my armpits then told Lester what to do. Tentatively, he started spreading the shaving gel on my legs. I tried to ignore where his head was.

'Now just bring the razor up my legs. It needs a little pressure but not too much.' Lester did as told and I twisted my legs so he could reach the sides. He had to move around me to do the backs. 'Shit, Lester, that hurts! Please try and leave my skin intact.'

'Sorry Steph,' he mumbled.

'It's ok, even I cut my knees sometimes. They're the hardest part. Bleed like a bitch, too.' Lester chuckled and I was happy he'd finally relaxed. It had been the tensest shower I'd ever had.

Lester had to help wash the gel off. That was embarrassing. And then it was finally over. Lester helped me out of the shower and I started to drip all over his bathroom floor.

'Hold onto me so I can grab a towel,' he said in a low voice. I put my hands on his shoulders and tried not to giggle as he pointedly looked elsewhere than at me. We dried and dressed and Lester carried me out of the bathroom. I shut the apartment door behind us and we turned around to see my parents, Grandma Mazur – with a gleeful smile – and Joe being escorted into the common room.

'Stephanie Plum! Don't you have legs? Are you incapable of walking anywhere?' my mother demanded. I could tell she was working herself up to a good rant. I hadn't called her in a while and, except for when she'd dropped the test off, I hadn't seen her in a while either.

'At the moment, Mrs Plum, Stephanie is on complete bed rest and not allowed to walk anywhere, no,' Lester broke in with a firm voice. My mother nearly gaped at him but straightened her spine and marched through the door Tank was holding open. He had a blank face carefully in place though it flickered when my grandma walked past him.

Lester settled me into a corner of the couch and took the place next to me himself. I shot him a grateful look.

'Um, this is really something I need to tell Joe alone,' I started. I really didn't want an audience for this conversation. It wasn't going to be particularly pleasant. My mother sniffed and marched back out, my father dutifully following her. I gave Grandma a pointed look and she left reluctantly. 'It'll be fine, Lester, but I need to do this alone,' I said when he didn't move. He left grudgingly.

'Why are you on bed rest, Cupcake?' Joe asked, his concerned face making an appearance as he came to sit next to me. I waved a hand in the air.

'That's not important right now,' I said, dismissing it. 'I needed to tell you this in person, Joe. You're… not going to like it.' I stopped. I didn't really want to have this conversation but I knew it was necessary.

'What is it? It can't be that bad.' I nearly laughed but held it in.

'Uh, there's really no way to break this gently… Joe, I'm pregnant.' He just looked at me for a minute, completely stunned. 'With twins.' His jaw dropped. He shook his head a moment later and shut it, but he was still staring at me.

'Uh, I don't really know what to say. I wasn't sure what to expect but it certainly wasn't this. What do you want to do, Cupcake?'

'Do? I'm not going to do anything. There's nothing I can do.'

'But don't you want to get married? Make a proper family?' Oh crap. I looked away from him and he fell silent.

'Uh… they're um, they're not… not yours, Joe,' I whispered. I couldn't look at him so I watched out of the corner of my eye. He went white, then red, then leapt up off the couch.

'Then whose are they? You can't know yet unless it was while we were still together! How could you cheat on me?' His voice had steadily risen until he was yelling. The door burst open and Lester and Tank appeared. Joe was too wrapped up in his anger to see them. 'Who was it? I thought we had something! We were engaged, and you were out screwing around with some _cornuto_!'

'Careful who you insult, Morelli,' Lester said darkly. Morelli whirled to look at him. 'Ric's my brother and you'll find that I can defend him just as well as he can defend himself if you push me far enough.'

'It was Manoso? Even-'

'_Shut up, Joe!_' I yelled as loud as I could. He turned to stare at me. 'Just listen to me. I would never _ever_ cheat on _anyone_. Not even the Dick, who cheated on me! I slept with Ranger after I broke up with you. Maybe not long after, but it was still _after_. I'm only a month and a half pregnant.

'And if you _ever _call Ranger something that dirty again you might find yourself on the wrong end of a Buick again… or something even worse. You know I have enough friends that I can make your life hell. Don't think I'll hesitate to do it. I thought that because of what we used to be to each other you deserved to hear this from me instead of the Burg, but I guess I was wrong. Tank, could you please ensure that he leaves the building and I don't want to see him again until he's calmed down.'

'Sure, Steph.' Morelli looked at Tank as though he thought about arguing about it, but you'd have to be a lot bigger than Morelli to seriously consider arguing with Tank. They left. I sighed and relaxed.

'Lester, could you ask my parents to come back in please?' I sounded tired and I closed my eyes for a moment.

'Stephanie, what were you arguing with Joe Morelli about? You know he's a very nice boy to put up with everything you put him through-'

'Mom, please. I have some news for you, maybe you should sit down.' I opened my eyes as my parents settled on the couch across from me. Grandma got swallowed up by one of the massive armchairs. My mother looked expectantly at me. I took a deep breath. 'I'm pregnant.'

'Well, you'll have to marry Joe now,' mom said. I glanced at Lester but he wasn't helpful. I looked back at my parents.

'They're not Joe's,' I said quietly. Grandma Mazur cackled. My mother made an impatient gesture.

'Well? Whose is it, then?' she demanded. I took a deep breath. I let the breath out again. I just couldn't say it.

'Whose is it, angel?' my dad asked. I turned to look at him. He was wearing a politely vacant expression, but I was beginning to think he used it somewhat like Ranger did his stone face.

'They're that hot bounty hunter's, aren't they?' Grandma demanded eagerly. I could see the glint in her eyes even from where I was sitting. I nodded slowly.

'Yes. They're Ranger's.'

'That's the second time you've said 'they', Stephanie,' my mom said.

'I know. I'm not having one baby. I'm having twins. Probably. I'm only a month and a half pregnant so it's very hard to tell. The doctor got a second opinion on it but they both think there's two.' I studied the floor. I didn't want to admit to anyone how scared I was of having twins. Especially since Ranger wasn't here.

'Are you pleased?' mom asked. I glanced at her.

'Of course she's pleased!' Grandma interjected. 'Anyone would be pleased if they'd slept with him! And just think how beautiful their babies will be!' Mom turned to glare at her, but actually Grandma was pretty right. Not that I was going to admit that to my mother, of course.

'Yeah, I think so. It was unexpected and I'm not really sure what to do, but I think I'm glad.' She smiled at me.

'You know where we are if you ever need any help,' she said. 'How about you tell us why you're on bed rest now?' I looked away again.

'I was… working,' I began. 'The skip got a little rough with me and I got hurt. It's not bad, but because of the pregnancy the doctor didn't want me doing anything until I've healed. It's only for two weeks, then I've got another check up to ensure that everything's still fine. She said there shouldn't be any ill effects once I've healed.'

'I'm glad you're going to be ok,' mom said after a moment. I smiled.

'We're all going to be fine. I've moved into this building but I still have my cell phone so you can call me on that.' I didn't want to explain that I was living with Lester. I thought that might be a bit much for my mother. I saw Lester's lips twitch but fortunately he didn't comment.

'We'll take good care of her, Mrs Plum. You don't need to worry about anything. The twins are going to be my nieces or nephews, so I have a bigger interest than the rest of the men in making sure Stephanie is fine,' Lester added to my parents.

'Thank you,' my mom said. 'Stephanie, we have to be going now. I'll call you tomorrow and you should come for dinner when you're off bed rest.'

'Sure mom.' Lester showed them out and I relaxed. I was glad that I'd told them. It hadn't gone as well as I'd hoped with Joe but at least my parents had been pretty accepting, even of the fact that they were Ranger's. All that was left now was for him to come back.

'Why are you crying, ciela?' I opened my eyes and looked up at Lester. He was blurry from the tears. He sat next to me and lifted me into his lap. I wrapped my arms around his neck.

'I wish Ranger would come back,' I whispered against his neck. 'It's not right that he's not here for all of this. Even if he doesn't want them, even if he doesn't want me, he should be a part of this.'

'I know, and I can promise that he'll answer to me for not being here when he does get back. But I can't make him come back if he doesn't want to. I don't even have any idea where he is; neither does anyone else.' I let Lester hold me until my stomach rumbled and it was time to feed the hunger beast.

**Chapter Nineteen**

_(Diego's POV)_

'Is Cap always like this?' Ben asked me. I looked at him, across the table from me, and then over at Ric. He was sitting on his own, like he always did, and just looking at his food before occasionally forcing himself to eat a bite.

'No. He's always reserved but I've never known him to be like this before. He won't tell me what's wrong either, so I can't help him. But I do know that it won't affect the job, he's too much of a professional. You don't need to worry about him, that's my mother's job.' Ben chuckled, as I'd hoped he would, and left the subject alone.

It wasn't just my mother that was worried about Ric. I hadn't spoken to her since before I'd found him because I knew she'd want to talk to him and he wouldn't want to talk to her. But I was worried about him, as well. He never talked much, but he was completely silent now unless he was barking orders in the training.

The training was going well. We'd only been here for two weeks but I could already see that we had a good team. The chances of our success and survival scared me when I allowed myself to think about them, so I didn't, but I did think that we might be able to get out with most of us alive. Ric was a damn good Commander and we had a damn good team. I just had to hope it would be enough.

I'd tried a couple more times to get Ric to talk to me but he just ignored me. I had no idea what his problem was. I sighed as I watched him carry his less than half empty plate back to the hatch and walk out of the dining hall. He was barely keeping himself alive, it was like he just couldn't be bothered anymore and was only doing this because his sense of honour was so strong.

I finished the rest of my dinner and hurried after my brother, hoping that this time, he might open up to me. I had to keep trying. He'd kill himself sooner or later, and I suspected that that's what he really hoped for on the mission. He'd done plenty of reckless shit in his time in the Army but he'd never actually gone looking for death. I had a feeling that had changed and I wanted to know why.

I opened his door without knocking to find him lying on his bed, arms behind his head and his eyes closed.

'Go away, Diego,' he said without opening them. I ignored him and sat on the single chair in the room.

'I'm not going away until you tell me why you have death in your eyes,' I told him. He grunted. 'What the hell are you running from? A job gone wrong? Revenge against you? Something that happened to you? Something you feel responsible for? A woman?' Nothing got a reaction. 'Ric, you can't just go out into that jungle without caring whether you come back. There are too many people that care about you.'

I sat there for another few minutes but there was no response. I knew he wasn't asleep but he obviously didn't want to talk. I sighed and got up. 'I wish you'd tell me,' I murmured as I left the room. I closed the door softly behind me and walked down the corridor to my own room. My cell was lying on the table and I thought maybe I should tell my mother and Tank that I'd found him. Probably I could persuade them he didn't want to talk.

'Hola,' my mother said.

'Hola, mamá, he encontrado Ricardo.' As I knew it would, this statement set of a stream of rapid Spanish and yelling in the background.

'What happened? Is he all right? Where are you? Why hasn't he called us? When is he coming home, Diego? Tell him that I'm ashamed of him, just running off like that without telling his family. We've been worried sick about him and he didn't have five minutes to pick up the phone and tell us he's fine?'

'Mamá, hush,' I said. 'Nothing's happened to him, he's fine. I can't tell you where we are, one of his markers has been pulled in and we're training for a job. I'll only be able to call you for another few weeks and we'll be gone for several months.'

'And why hasn't he called to tell us himself?' she asked imperiously. I sighed again. She wasn't going to like this.

'He doesn't want to talk to anyone,' I told her. 'He won't even talk to me. I don't know why he left Trenton and he won't tell me. Something happened, something that made him get very drunk but even then he wouldn't tell me. I'm doing what I can, mamá, but he's not letting me help.'

'Hmph. I raised him better than that.'

'I know. I'm sure whatever it is will work itself out if we give him time. There's not much else we can do.'

'This isn't going to affect your job, is it?' she asked. I hesitated. I didn't want to tell her the truth, but I couldn't lie, either, and she spotted evasion miles away.

'Not his performance, no. He's fine with the training, that's the only time he says anything. I don't have any doubts about this distracting him.'

'What do you have doubts about?' Damnit, I was hoping she wouldn't ask that.

'His desire to come back alive,' I said quietly.

'Then you just make sure he does, Diego. I don't care if you have to drug him, drag him or even half-kill him but you make sure my baby comes back alive.' Her voice was determined but I could hear the tears in it. I took a deep breath.

'I will, mamá. I will.'

I called her for the last time about six weeks later, just before we were due to leave. Ric still hadn't opened up to me and hadn't changed at all. He did what was required and nothing more. He'd just walked out of the base four hours ago and I could only assume he'd be back in time to leave in another three.

'We're leaving in a few hours, mamá,' I said when she picked up. 'I won't be able to call again until we get back.'

'How long will you be?' she asked.

'A guess is four months, but it depends on the situation we find. It could be longer. I don't want you to worry about us.'

'I always worry, my son,' she said. 'Take care of Ricardo and bring him safely back.'

'I'll try, but mamá… there's only a ten percent chance we'll succeed, and only five percent chance that any of us will survive this.' She drew her breath in sharply and when she spoke again her voice was wobbly and I could hear the tears. I wished I didn't have to tell her this.

'I don't care. You just make sure he comes back, Diego. He's my first son. I want you both to come back.'

'I'll try, mamá. I'll try.'

I wiped the tear off my cheek and checked my gear, then headed over to Ric's room to check his. He still wasn't back. I wondered what he was doing. I'd just finished when he walked in. His eyes were red rimmed but I decided not to mention it. It might just spark the temper he usually kept under tight wraps but which had started to escape in the last few weeks.

'You're all set,' I told him quietly. I didn't mention my conversation to our mother for the same reasons. I didn't know what would set him off and I really didn't have the time to fight him right now.

He nodded his thanks and gathered up his kit. He waited outside my room while I gathered mine and we left the building in silence together. It was time to leave.


	5. Part 5

Chapter Twenty

It was moving day. I was two and a half months pregnant and had been off bed rest for the last couple of weeks. I'd been to see Nessa again about a week ago and she said everything had healed just fine, and was still pretty sure I was having twins. I'd been living out of a bag since and had finally got tired of it, so the next time I had enough energy Lester took a team of RangeMen over to my apartment to officially move me out.

I didn't need to take any furniture with me since Lester already had plenty, so we were just boxing my personal items. I'd forgotten just how personal some of them were and nearly jumped out of my skin when I realised the piece of paper I'd casually tossed on my kitchen counter and Bobby had just picked up was that God-awful note Ranger had left the morning after.

'Don't read that!' I screeched at him, wading through men and boxes to snatch it out of his hand.

'Ok, Bombshell, no need to get your panties in a twist,' he said, both hands held up in what I assumed was meant to be a calming gesture. All of the men had become cautious of my mood swings in the last couple of weeks because they were unpredictable and often made me unreasonable. I hated them.

'What was it?' Lester asked curiously, coming in behind me.

'None of your damn business,' I mumbled, tucking the note into my pocket. I wanted to keep it for evidence when Ranger finally reappeared. Thankfully, Lester and Bobby dropped the issue.

He still hadn't come back, although we knew where he was. Sometime while I was still on bed rest Lester had gotten a call from his mother to tell him that Diego, who was apparently Ranger's twin, had finally found him after more than a month searching. They were, at that point, at an undisclosed location training for a job that a marker had been called in for. Ranger had refused to talk to his mother.

I had asked Lester to ask his mother to ask Diego to give a message to Ranger for me, if she heard from him again. I asked that he be told to try and come back to us, and that I was waiting for him. I was hoping that if he knew I was waiting for him, it might make him come home a little faster. The look in Lester's eyes had told me he knew what I was hoping and that it wouldn't make a difference, but he hadn't said anything and I was clinging to my hope. I missed him.

I pulled myself out of my thoughts and moved away to the bathroom to pack my makeup, which I wasn't letting any of the boys touch. I unfortunately had to let them pack my clothes, including my underwear, and I refused to be in the same room while they did so.

I heard someone's phone ring and then a muted conversation in Spanish as I was packing. I thought it was Lester's voice but I couldn't be certain. Whoever it was sounded agitated or anxious; not something the Merry Men usually sounded and I started to get worried. I finished the box and carried it out into the living room just in time to see Lester snap his phone shut. His face was drawn and tense and pale.

'¡Mierda! ¿Cómo el carajo puedo contar Stephanie esto? ¡Estúpido hombre! Si él hubiera hablado con ella...' Lester trailed off and ran his hand through his hair. When he looked up he saw me and I swear he blanched.

'Lester? What happened?' I asked, getting worried now. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The Merry Men usually had no problem telling me anything, at least not once they'd decided to tell me in the first place, so I knew it had to be bad. And I had caught my name, so I knew it had to do with me.

'Why don't we go somewhere more… private,' Lester suggested. I swallowed, even more worried now, and nodded. I put the box down on an available surface and took Lester's hand, allowing him to lead me into my bedroom. 'I need a minute with Steph,' he said to the guys in there. They immediately filed out and Lester pulled us down onto the bed.

'Lester, just spit it out, please,' I begged when he didn't say anything. He was looking at his hands, holding mine in his lap, and just sitting there. When I spoke he looked up at me and his blank face was in place.

'Steph… the call I just took was from my mother. She spoke to Diego a few minutes ago and got some more news about him and Ric.' He paused and watched me carefully, looking for a response. I don't know what he saw in my face. 'They're about to leave on their mission. It's the last time she'll speak to them until they complete it, in whatever way that happens to be. Diego said that at a guess they'll be gone for four months but it could change.'

Lester stopped and dropped my gaze again so I could tell there was more. I waited, but he didn't say anything else. 'Tell me the rest.' He started to shake his head. 'Lester. Tell me. Please.'

'Diego said… he said they only have a small chance of succeeding or… of surviving.' He paused and locked eyes with me again. 'Ten percent… and five.' His voice was ragged and I sat there in shock, not even breathing. I couldn't understand what he was telling me. I got up and turned away from him, pacing the room, trying to get my brain to understand. 'Steph…'

Ignoring Lester, I opened the door and wandered back into my living room. I was dazed, shocked, I had no idea what to do. Tank and Bobby came hurrying over, concern spilling out of them as Lester appeared in the doorway behind me. I turned on him, angry and upset and hurt and I didn't know what else.

'Are you telling me that the father of my baby… of my _children_… is probably going to be killed in some fucking foreign jungle?' I demanded, trying to hold the tears back but feeling them spill down my cheeks anyway.

Lester moved forwards and wrapped me tight in his arms, ignoring my attempts to hit him. When I stopped trying I flung my arms around his neck instead and sobbed into his chest. I didn't want Ranger to die.

Aside from my pregnancy, I didn't know exactly what was between us but I knew there was something. I cared for him, a lot. Maybe more than that, but I didn't want to examine it too closely. And I sure as hell didn't want to have to tell my children that their father ran off into the jungle and got himself killed because he slept with me.

'Shh, Steph, it'll be ok. He'll come back, you know he will. Everything will be fine. I'm here…' Lester's words dropped into Spanish and I slowly calmed down. I was exhausted after the crying jag so Lester piled me into his truck and left the rest of the guys to finish packing up for me.

The drive was silent. Although that was usual for the Merry Men, I could normally get them to talk, at least a little bit. Some of them were better than others and Lester and I could generally have a fairly lengthy conversation, but I just didn't feel like talking right then.

When we got up to his apartment I went and lay down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. I still didn't really know what I was feeling. I did know that I was scared, very scared. Scared that Ranger wouldn't come back and I'd have to raise my twins on my own. Scared that I'd never see him again and that I wouldn't be able to cope with it. Scared that I would cave under the stress of waiting to hear from him. Or from Diego. Or… whoever.

I felt the bed dip as Lester lay down next to me. He scooted over and pulled me into his arms. I rested against him for a moment, not sure what to say. He was silent, either content to stay in his thoughts or waiting for me to say something.

'What happens if he doesn't come back, Les?' I whispered. 'What will I do? I've got two children to raise, _his_ children. What will I tell them? I don't think I could take it if… I couldn't…'

'Hush, Steph. Don't think about that. Think about the fact that he's a very skilled man and he's done things like this before. He knows what to do in almost every situation he could find. He's just undergone even more training and I'm sure he'll have lots of toys to help him. He will do his best to come back. And Diego will help him.' I didn't have Lester's faith but I clung to it anyway. If he could believe it then I would. I had to.

I don't know how long Lester lay there with me and comforted me as I slowly came to terms with the fact that Ranger was gone and wouldn't be back very soon. The noise of my stomach drew us out of our thoughts.

'I think it's trying to tell you something, Bombshell,' Lester said, smiling gently.

'No,' I answered, smirking slightly, 'it's trying to tell _you_ something.' Lester laughed, although it didn't sound quite as natural as usual, pulled me up off the bed and headed into the kitchen.

'Let's feed that thing before it gets really angry,' he called over his shoulder. I followed him and pulled myself up onto the counter to watch as he moved confidently around the small space. 'Do you want to talk, Steph?' he asked more seriously.

'Not really. But if I do, I know where to come. I just want to forget about it, as much as I can.' Lester nodded and we lapsed into silence, but at least it was a comfortable silence now. I'd been living with him for almost a month and we were pretty comfortable with each other. Comfortable enough for him to hold me while I threw up in the mornings, anyway.

He handed me a plate with a large sandwich on it just as there was a knock on the door. He threw me a look and headed over to answer it, pulling it wider when he saw who was on the other side.

'Hey Bombshell,' Tank said as he came in. I smiled at him – my mouth was full of sandwich. 'We got the rest of your stuff, do you guys want us to bring it up now?' I nodded, still incapable of speaking.

'Give me a minute and I'll come down and help,' Lester said. Tank nodded and disappeared again. Lester came and stood between my knees, searching my face. 'Are you sure you're ok, ciela?' I smiled and laid a hand on his cheek.

'Thanks for being concerned, Lester, but it's unnecessary. I'm fine. Ranger will come home and… if he… well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.' Lester searched my face a moment longer, then gave a short nod. I leant down and gave him a kiss on the cheek, and with a smile he disappeared to help Tank. Moments later the guys were filing in with the boxes.

Chapter Twenty-one

'Since Ric left, we've been somewhat short staffed, and it's put a lot of pressure on all of us,' Bobby began. We were sitting in Lester's apartment having just finished unpacking me. 'I'm going to have to hire someone new, but Ric prefers to be a part of that process himself.

'However, if you'd feel comfortable with it, you could have a job in the control room handling communications, information searches, that sort of thing, and save me the trouble of finding someone Ric might want to fire when he gets back. What do you think?' I thought they were giving me a job here so that I couldn't go out and get myself into trouble now that I was back on my feet.

'No, Steph, that's not why we want you to take the job,' Lester said softly. 'Ric has wanted you to work here for a while, he truly thinks you'll be an asset to the team. This isn't exactly what he was thinking of, but it fits our and your circumstances and requirements for the moment. The job takes a lot of concentration and multitasking, it's not something just anyone can do. You'll need to be trained for it. It's not just to keep you safe, although I'll admit that's an added bonus. And we really do need someone else working here, there's just too much work for the rest of us without Ric. I know he'd want you to take the job.'

'Can I think about it for a while?' I asked plaintively. 'My life has changed more than I thought possible in the last month and I need some time to sort it all out in my head.' There was a silent conversation between the guys. If I'm going to work here, I'm going to have to get them to teach me to do that.

'Ok, Steph. I hope you decide to take it. We do need you.' I nodded to Tank. Probably I would end up taking it. I didn't want them to think they could ask me to do anything and I'd immediately jump to do it. Even though probably they could. I just didn't want them to think that.

I yawned and the guys got up, laughing and saying goodnight. Lester flicked the TV on when they'd left and I snuggled up against him, his arm wrapping around my shoulders. My hand was resting on his stomach and it was comfortable and intimate.

I must have drifted off because the next thing I was aware of was Lester carrying me towards the bed. He laid me down gently and I opened my eyes. 'Thanks,' I whispered. Lester nodded and helped me off the bed so I could go do my thing in the bathroom. When I came back out, Lester had changed into a pair of loose cotton pants.

He shook his head at my pyjamas and disappeared into the bathroom as I climbed into bed. My thoughts turned back to Ranger as I lay there. I wondered whether he'd come back and if he did, what his reaction to me would be. If he was going to be away for a few months then he'd know the moment he saw me that I was pregnant. I wondered whether he'd be pleased.

Lester came out of the bathroom and slid into the bed behind me. I listened to his soft, steady breathing. I wanted him to hold me, to comfort me. I wanted to know that I wasn't alone.

'Lester?' I asked quietly. I heard him shift slightly.

'Yeah?'

'I want… will you hold me? Please?' My voice sounded quiet and vulnerable to my own ears. Lester shifted again and I felt him against my back. His arm wrapped around my waist and he drew me closer. I sighed and settled against him. 'Thank you,' I whispered.

'Anytime,' he whispered back. There was silence for a while, but neither of us slept. I could feel the same tension in him that was in me. 'He'll be ok,' Lester said after a while. A tear slid down my temple and soaked into the pillow.

'He has to be,' I murmured. There was a pause and then Lester turned me over so he could see my face.

'Steph…' he trailed off. I sniffed and wiped the next tear away.

'I'm sorry,' I whispered, fixing my eyes on the bed between us. Lester's fingers under my chin brought my gaze up to his.

'Don't be,' he replied. 'Steph, you… you love my brother, don't you?' I caught a sob in my throat and closed my eyes.

'Yes,' I managed. 'I fought it, I denied it, but I can't… I do love him, Lester. More than anything, more than I thought was possible. I think that… that if he doesn't come back, I won't be able to… I can't live without him.'

Lester's arms wrapped around my back and drew me closer, one hand cupping the back of my head and pressing it to his shoulder. I slipped my arms around him and held him tight, clinging to him as sobs shook my body. He whispered in my ear, soothing words in Spanish that I didn't understand.

'Will you… teach me Spanish?' I whispered when I wasn't sobbing so hard. Lester pulled back slightly and looked down at me.

'Why do you want to learn?' he asked gently. I smiled.

'Ranger speaks Spanish and he sometimes says things around me that I don't understand. And now you're doing it, too. I like it when you do, I just don't like not understanding.' Lester chuckled, the vibrations passing from his body to mine and waking my hormones up.

'Sure. I can teach you.'

'Thanks. I want my babies to speak Spanish too, since it's such a large part of Ranger, but I wouldn't like it if I couldn't understand them.' I made a face and Lester chuckled again. I shoved my hormones into the back of my mind and just enjoyed being this close to a man, a man who wasn't going to hurt me.

I realised Lester's breathing had deepened and he was asleep. I wasn't sure I'd be able to sleep right now. There were too many emotions inside me. I was terrified for Ranger and still unconvinced that he would come back. I knew that I wouldn't be able to live without him. I would survive for my children, but I wouldn't really live.

I watched Lester's face in the darkness, saw the peace that sleep gave him. His expression was always guarded when he was awake, always kept free of emotion. Or almost always. But now that he was asleep, his expression was peaceful, unguarded. He looked younger, vulnerable even.

As I watched, his expression changed. The peaceful look fled and was replaced by one of anger, hatred and… fear. Pain. Gut-wrenching agony. His body was tense beside mine and his hands were clenched into fists against my back.

I touched his shoulder gently with my hand but there was no response. 'Lester,' I whispered. I didn't want to startle him because I had no idea what he was dreaming about or how he might react. I just wanted to get that expression off his face. 'Lester, wake up,' I said, a little louder. He didn't wake up, but a tear escaped from one of his closed eyes. I wiped it away and wished I could wake him up.

Almost ten minutes later, I finally woke him up. I couldn't get up to get water or something to toss on him because he was holding me too tight and he didn't appear to hear me yelling at him, or feel me shaking him.

He blinked several times and look around, confused. He'd just met my eyes and I saw the memory slam into him. He shuddered and shut his eyes quickly, gathering me against him, burying his face in my neck. I wrapped my arms around him and stroked his hair and his back as the nightmare faded away.

'Thank you,' he whispered, his voice hoarse and ragged. He wouldn't meet my eyes, so I slipped my fingers beneath his chin and forced him to.

'No problem,' I replied quietly. 'I'm glad I was here to help.' I couldn't define the emotion that was in his eyes now, but at least it wasn't that terrible pain. 'Do you want to talk about it?' He glanced away.

'Do you know why I call you ciela?' he asked softly. I shook my head. 'It was what I used to call my baby sister.' He paused and I waited, sensing there was more to come. I was right.

'She was my twin, so only a half-sister to Ric and she was called Leya, which means loyalty. She was only fifteen minutes younger than me and I loved her more than anything else in the world. She was beautiful and intelligent and when life got bad, she could always cheer me up. She was a lot like you,' Lester murmured.

'You already know that I went into the army, and everything seemed fine for several years. I made it into the Rangers after two and I loved it; the danger gave me a rush like nothing else ever does, except sex.' We both laughed a little at that, but it was strained laughter.

'Then I met Ranger and I started to work here. I was twenty-five at the time. It seemed like working here was even better than the army. The pay, although it wasn't always as good as it is now, was better and it was way more flexible. I wasn't dragged out to remote countries at a moment's notice, although I did go with the guys on a few missions.

'But then one of the guys I'd helped to put behind bars got out on parole. He was pretty pissed at us, especially me since I was the one who physically caught him. He couldn't get at me; this place is too well guarded and my skills from the army were too sharp for him to get close. So he got Leya instead.

'I'll never forget her screams.' Lester shuddered at the memory and I hugged him hard. He hugged me back before continuing. 'We managed to get into the same building as where she was being held, but we couldn't find her. It wasn't sound proof and I could hear her screaming, hear her pleading with him. I went crazy. I tried to tear the walls down. Tank had to pull me away.

'Eventually we found her but by that time it was too late. I got to hold her while she died and then I killed the man who had killed her. Ric had been holding him for me, knowing I'd want to kill him. Bobby and Tank killed the rest of his goons while Leya was dying in my arms. So I killed my twin, and then I avenged her.'

I could easily hear the sorrow in his voice and there were tears pouring down his cheeks but he didn't sob, he just stared straight ahead, seeing something in his memory, and wept for the sister he'd loved. I did the only thing I could think to do; I tightened my arms around him and held him, but he wasn't finished talking.

'All the guys see a counselor when we finish a mission; it's army practice to help us deal with the things we do. The army has counselors that we can talk to about the details, ones who're sworn not to tell anything. I've had my share of counselling because of the job but I have never been able to talk about Leya to anyone, not even Ric, Tank or Bobby. I haven't even spoken her name aloud since she died.

'Eventually, I learned to just put the bad memories aside and get on with life, but by the time I managed it I'd lived for almost a year without talking to anyone or doing anything except existing. Leya died almost four years ago now.'

I didn't know what to say. I was stunned. How had he managed to tell me if he hadn't even been able to tell his own _brother_? 'Thank you for telling me, it means a lot that you call me that,' I whispered, only realising there were tears on my own cheeks when Lester reached up to wipe them away. 'Lester, I know you won't believe me but it really isn't your fault that that man killed Leya. You couldn't know he would go after her-'

'But I should have!' he exploded.

'But you couldn't,' I repeated. 'Just listen to me.' I laid my finger on his lips when he attempted to protest again. 'You had no way of knowing. You aren't a mind reader, you can't guess what someone else is going to do. I'm amazed that you managed to get past this on your own. I don't think I could have. Thank you for telling me.'

'I wanted to tell you. For the first time, I wanted to talk about it. You remind me so much of her, you have such similar personalities. I'm glad you listened. I think I needed to talk about it. I've never really been able to forget it, but maybe now I can. Not Leya, I could never forget her, but maybe I'll be able to forget how she died more often now. It still haunts my nights, sometimes, but I guess you know that.'

I put my hand to his cheek, touched. I was amazed he felt comfortable enough with me to be this open – after all, we hadn't really known one another that long, yet he'd told me about the sister he'd loved and believed his actions had killed.

'Truly, Lester, I'm touched that you told me. Are you all right now?' His smiled was a little weak, but it was there.

'Yeah, thanks. It helped, talking about her.' I smiled back and snuggled back down, into the bed and into Lester. I was comfortable.

'Night, Lester,' I murmured, feeling myself sink finally towards sleep.

'Night, ciela,' he whispered back. I smiled. It meant a lot that he called me that, now that I knew why.

**Chapter Twenty-two**

Lester woke me when he got up. 'Go back to sleep, ciela,' he whispered, tucking the covers back around me. I rolled over a few minutes later and a wave of nausea hit me. I shot off the bed and lurched into the bathroom, pushing Lester, who was shaving in front of the sink, out of the way so I could throw up.

I felt a cool cloth on my forehead and he was holding my hair away from my face. He flushed the toilet when I was done as I collapsed onto the floor.

'It's ok, Steph. Come on, come have some breakfast,' he murmured as his arms surrounded me and lifted me off the floor. I hid my face in his neck as he carried me back to the bed and laid me gently down.

It wasn't the first morning I'd had morning sickness since I'd been living with Lester although I didn't have it every morning. He was great. He held me while I threw up, he was ready with a cloth or a glass of water and he made me dry toast, which was the only thing I could keep down if I had morning sickness. The only bad point was that it always made me think of Ranger. Of how it should be him doing these things, not Lester.

'Have you thought any more about taking the job Bobby offered you?' Lester asked as we ate. I glanced up at him and then back down at my plate.

'If you swear to me that it's not just a pity job, that it's not just a way to keep me inside so that I'm safe, then yes, I'll take it,' I said slowly.

'I swear, Steph, it's neither of those things. We really do need you.' I nodded slowly.

'Ok. When do I start?' Lester grinned at me.

'If you don't have any plans, then today. Otherwise, as soon as possible. We're just about managing, but not for much longer. You'll need to be taught how to use some of the equipment, but it's not rocket science, I'm sure you'll figure it out. And you won't be on your own, either.'

Lester and I headed down to the control room together. When we got there even I could see that the smallest team possible was working it. There was never more than one guy to each set of monitors and some of them didn't even have that. 'Those're the monitors for GPS and this building's security,' Lester said, pointing to one bank of monitors, 'those are security cameras from the homes and businesses we take care of,' various other sets.

There were a couple little cubbies, one of which had a guy sitting in doing something at a computer. Tank was in the middle of the room, listening to one of the guys report while he read a file. He looked up when Lester and I entered.

'You going to take that job, Steph?' he asked when the guy had finished talking and Tank had sent him away with the file and some instructions. I nodded and Tank smiled at me. 'Good. You ready to start now?'

'Sure, just show me what to do,' I said. Tank chuckled and steered me over towards a large desk, big enough for two people, with a lot of complicated-looking machines, two computers and several notepads and pens neatly laid out on it. I didn't want to mess it up but I knew I would. Some guy was already working there. He was wearing a headset and talking into it.

When the three of us approached, the guy looked up and grinned at me. I wasn't sure I liked the look of that grin. 'Steph, meet Wolf. Wolf, Steph's gonna be learning how to help you.' Wolf continued to grin at me and I wanted to pee my pants. He was as good looking as any of Ranger's guys, but he also had an air of menace that most of the rest of them didn't… or at least, not so much as Wolf had.

'Ok. So what do I have to do?' I asked Tank. I was a little nervous about working with Wolf, but I was pretty sure he wouldn't hurt me. After all, he worked for Ranger and I was carrying Ranger's baby. Although he didn't necessarily know that, because I was pretty sure Tank hadn't made a general announcement of the fact.

'Well, Bombshell,' Tank said as he pressed me into the unoccupied chair, 'you put that headset on' -he put it in my hands- 'and you answer any calls that come in. You request back up if that's what they want, you search for information if that's what they want, basically, you do whatever they ask you to do, as quickly as you can. They're working in the field so they don't always have time to wait for you.'

I nodded. Right. I could do this. I put the headset on and waited. A call came through from someone called Ram, requesting information on someone named Shotski. I'd already typed most of the name into the search system Tank had pulled up for me when I realised I knew the guy.

'Wait, exactly what information do you want and why do you want it?' I asked Ram. There was almost startled silence for a moment.

'He's FTA on charges of attempted murder.' I shuddered. I never would have expected that from Michael. 'I want associates, places where he might hole up.' Ah. Something I didn't need to search for. I grinned as I sorted through the information I had on him in my mind.

'Ok, first you should try his girlfriend's. I think he's currently going out with Louise Pattren. She lives on Nottinghill Lane, number 503. His parents live at 10678 on Klockner. Then of course he's been best friends with Danny Koloski since forever, so he might be there. Danny lives at 809 on Ellwood Street. Is that ok?' There was stunned silence both on the line and in the room behind me. Tank leaned over my shoulder and searched for all that info on the search program thingy.

'Thanks,' a still shocked-sounding Ram said, and disconnected.

'Damn, Steph, that was good. How'd you know all that anyway?' Tank asked, since he'd checked all the information out now. I smirked; I'd seen that everything I'd said was right.

'He's Burg,' I told Tank, shrugging. 'Ram was lucky. If he hadn't been, I wouldn't've known that.' Tank opened his mouth to speak but another call came through, this time from someone named Vince, so I ignored him. Vince wanted to know who lived at 4072 Bentley Avenue.

While I was searching for that information, yet another call came through. This time it was a guy named Cal, wanting info on a Paul Chossen and a Thomas Gretski. Keeping these new names in my head I finished the first search, then got Tank to teach me how to call Vince back and told him what he wanted to know. Then I searched for Chossen and Gretski. Then I called Cal back and told him the information. Then Bobby called.

'Hey Bombshell,' he said. I snorted. 'Can you tell me who's the closest team to us right now? We need some backup.'

'Sure. One second.' I turned around and confirmed my suspicion that Lester was talking to the guy at the GPS monitors. He'd left sometime while I was talking to Cal for the first time. 'HEY! Lester!' He looked up. 'Tell me which team's closest to Bobby?' Lester turned and scanned the screens for a moment.

'Tell him it's Junior and Vince,' he replied. I nodded and turned back around.

'Lester says Junior and Vince are closest to you,' I relayed to Bobby. 'Want me to call them for you?' I couldn't keep all the pride out of my voice. Bobby chuckled at me and I wanted to stick my tongue out at him, but he wouldn't see it.

'Nah, I've got their number. Thanks Bombshell.' Disconnect. Shaking my head, I waited for the next call to come through.

'Steph, shouting across the control room isn't the best thing to do. It can be distracting. Let me show you how to contact whoever's monitoring GPS so you can find that kind of information out more quietly.' I rolled my eyes and watched what Tank was doing.

For the next two hours, I worked on communications. Slowly, the control room began to fill up and there were fewer calls. There were now two guys at most of the banks of monitors and there was someone in the other cubby. Then I got a sneaky idea.

'TANK!' I almost hollered before remembering he'd told me not to yell. I called him instead. 'Why were there so many people out earlier and now there are so many back here? Did you send them out and have them make a ridiculous number of calls just to see how I'd cope?' I asked when he picked up.

'It's what we do to everyone who's gonna work here, Steph. We throw you in at the deep end to see how you cope, then cut you some slack until you're fully trained to deal with it. From what I've seen, you're gonna be just fine. You did better than anyone else I've ever seen.'

I glowed with pride at that. It was nice to think that I was really good at something. For the rest of the day, barring a short lunch and several bathroom breaks, Tank taught me what seemed like everything it was possible to know about the search programmes I would be required to use and the technical stuff that I might have to know about in between the other calls that came in, but they were less frequent now that I wasn't being 'thrown in the deep end'.

'You learn really fast, Bombshell,' Tank told me at one point. 'If you're this good, I might have to take you out on takedowns to handle the communications there. It usually takes at least two to three guys, but it looks as if you'll be able to save us a guy, if not more.' I couldn't stop the beaming grin from spreading across my face. I was better than the Merry Men at something!

'Yeah, you have to tell us your secret. How do you do it?' Lester asked, leaning one hip casually against the desk. On my other side, Wolf finished up his call and turned expectantly to me, evidently wanting to hear my secret. 'I want to be able to do it.'

'It's no secret, really, but I don't think you'll be able to do it, Lester, if you can't already.' He face fell. 'It's nothing against you, it's just you have a different background to me. You and Tank were dumbfounded earlier when I didn't have to look up the addresses for Shotski. It's more of the same thing, really. I'm used to having three-way conversations on two different phones at the same time. It's a part of Burg life and the grapevine that holds up its existence.'

Tank, Lester, Wolf, and most of the other guys able to overhear me were staring at me when I finished that little explanation.

'Damn, Tank, she'd probably be able to handle takedown communications single-handedly!' Lester exclaimed.

'You might be right, Lester. We'll have to test that sometime.' I smiled but another call came through then and I was kept busy until Tank came and told me that I could stop. Wolf had taken a several hour break a while ago; apparently he could handle communications until the remaining teams out there returned. Most of them would be heading back by then anyway.

Exhausted, I followed Tank and Lester up to our apartment and collapsed on the couch. 'How did you find it, Bombshell?' Tank asked.

'I loved it. I could wish that I'd be out in the field a bit more, but I really have no desire to wrestle with my FTAs and potentially hurt my baby, so I guess I'll just have to deal with it for a few months. At least I'm doing something useful, and I actually get a similar adrenaline rush when I'm finding information and coordinating teams as quickly as I can that's similar to catching an FTA.' Tank smiled at me.

'I'm glad you enjoy it. I'll see you tomorrow,' he said, getting up and leaving Lester and I alone.

Chapter Twenty-three

I was rudely dragged from my nice dream of Ranger and I alone on a private beach in the sun by the shrill ringing of a cell phone. Lester rolled away from me and flipped it open.

'Yes,' he muttered, sounding very un-impressed with the wake-up call. He listened for a while and then got very still and tense. I rolled over and watched him. His face was tense but otherwise his expression was masked. 'Thanks,' he said before snapping the phone shut again. He rolled out of bed and flicked the light on.

'What's going on?' I asked, blinking in the bright light.

'Don't worry, Steph, just go back to sleep.' I sat up, holding the covers to my chest and glared at Lester's back as he disappeared into the closet.

'You can't just tell me not to worry when I know something's wrong!' I said. I knew he'd hear me; he'd left the door open.

Lester didn't reply, but reappeared a few minutes later dressed and carrying a small duffel bag. 'I have to go, Steph.' I opened my mouth but didn't have a chance to say anything before he was out the door. I glared at it for a moment but dropped back into bed when I yawned. I'd find out what happened in the morning.

I woke up cold, which had become unusual in the last few weeks. Lester usually slept next to me and even if we weren't actually touching his heat seemed to fill the bed. I shivered and got up slowly; I had no desire to have another bout with morning sickness, especially since it seemed I'd be on my own this morning.

I had a quick shower and ate a light breakfast. I'd recently discovered that my usual breakfast of pop tarts or, worse, doughnuts, just did not sit well in my stomach anymore. It usually came back up within half an hour.

I headed down to the control room when I'd finished eating, the same time as I had for the last couple of weeks. Instead of the light-hearted yet professional atmosphere usually present the room was filled with tension. Both Bobby and Tank were on the floor and everyone had a serious expression.

'Morning Bombshell,' Bobby said when I reached him. Tank was engrossed in a report by one of the men but he caught my eye and gave me a nod, which I took to be his greeting.

'Morning,' I replied. 'What's going on? Why did Lester leave in the middle of the night? Where is he?' Bobby guided me into his office without saying anything and when he still didn't say anything after sitting down the silence got oppressive. 'Bobby, please, tell me what's going on.' He sighed and looked up at me.

'Most jobs here are done in pairs, unless they require more manpower, and usually everyone has two partners that they switch between working with. The kind of work we do requires a very close relationship with your partner, and we always find it hard when they're injured, or missing or whatever. A lot of us are closer to our partners here than we are to anyone else. Mostly that's a function of what we've been through together, of the things we've done for each other.

'Lester, like most of us, has two partners. One is me. The other is his half-brother, and they share a father so he's not blood-related to Ric. His name is Dantel, though he hates that so we call him Dan.

'Lest night, he was out on a routine surveillance with his other partner, Jix. The guy they were watching for wasn't actually supposed to show up, but he did. They decided to go after him, so they called for backup. We got there too late. Jix got a shallow knife cut and Dan got shot, about an inch higher than his heart. They were both wearing vests but it was too close range for them to do much good.

'Jix got stitched up and they kept him for the rest of the night, his other partner, Finch, has just gone to collect him. Dan's in intensive care and probably will be for a while. Since the shot was so close to his heart, he lost a lot of blood and there was a lot of trauma to his body. They're doing all they can, but it's touch and go.'

I stared at Bobby in shock, trying to let the news sink in. I couldn't even imagine what Lester was feeling right now. Two brothers God-knows-where doing God-knows-what that they probably won't survive and now another one in hospital.

'I want to see him,' I said without thinking. I glanced up at Bobby and my impulse firmed into a resolve. 'I want to go and see Lester and make sure he's all right.'

Bobby searched my eyes for a few moments and then nodded. 'Ok. I'll find someone to take you.' I didn't argue with the bodyguard, I was too worried about Lester.

Ten minutes later I was in a truck with Slade heading to wherever Lester's brother was being treated. I hadn't bothered to ask, I'd know when we got there. The drive was silent, both of us oppressed by the tension that had filled the control room.

We drove up to the medical centre where I had been treated after the disastrous distraction job. Slade didn't even stop at reception, just headed straight back, his hand on the small of my back guiding me. We walked down several corridors until Slade opened a door into a waiting room. Lester was sitting in one of the seats, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. He didn't look up.

I crossed the room quickly and sat next to him, reaching over to rest my hand on his shoulder. He raised his head slowly and turned blank eyes on me. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him close, offering him comfort without the burden of words. He understood.

I don't know how long we sat like that. 'Thank you, ciela,' Lester whispered when we separated again. I smiled gently at him.

'Have you heard anything more?' I asked.

'He's back in surgery, trying to repair the damage. If it goes well, he's got a reasonable chance. If not…' he trailed off, and I didn't need him to finish the sentence. 'Thanks for coming Steph. You should get back, I don't want to keep you here. There's nothing more you can do now.'

Understanding that he had taken as much comfort from me as he could and now wanted to be alone again, I nodded and gave him one last hug before letting Slade lead me back to the truck.

Slade took me to my parents' for lunch, though he stayed in the truck. I guess he'd heard about my Grandma. Nothing unusual happened, it was a pleasant, calm meal. Probably it was a good thing Slade stayed in the truck – I doubt it would have been as calm if he'd come in.

'Can we go by my apartment?' I asked as I got back into the truck afterwards. 'I just want to check everything's finalised and there's no more mail.' Slade nodded without replying and pulled off. Dillon said that everything was fine and handed me a small pile of mail for me to go through.

We headed back to RangeMan. Lester was still at the hospital but Bobby told me that Dan's surgery had gone well and chances were good. There were a lot of teams out in the field so Tank asked if I could help on communications again.

When my shift was done it was getting late. Lester was still with Dan, so I opted to eat with the guys. Probably if I tried to find something in Lester's apartment I'd blow it up or set fire to it and I didn't want to do that.

The guys had to make their own lunches from supplies in the break room, but during the week Ella, who lived in the building and kept it supplied with food and other necessities, would cook dinner for whichever guys happened to be there. It was a noisy, happy affair where the guys teased each other – and me – and everyone got to eat a good meal.

When it was over Bobby came upstairs with me, since his apartment was next to Lester's. 'Lester should be heading back soon, he can't stay at the hospital overnight,' Bobby told me. 'Will you be all right til he gets back?'

'Sure. I'm a big girl, Bobby. I can look after myself.' Bobby smiled.

'I know you can, I just wanted to be sure.'

'Thanks. Goodnight, Bobby.'

'Night, Steph.'

I went inside and shut the door. The pile of my mail was still sitting on the counter where I'd left it so I decided to go through it while I waited for Lester to get back. The first three I opened were bills, my last ones until I moved out of Lester's place so it didn't make me feel too bad.

The last envelope wasn't marked with a return address. I got up from the couch to get a glass of water as I opened it. Several pieces of paper fell out onto the floor and I bent down to pick them up. They were pictures. There was a letter in the envelope, which I pulled out to read before looking more closely at the pictures. Maybe it was totally innocent and I didn't have a new stalker.

You're pregnant, aren't you? How could you do this to me, you whore?! You're supposed to be pure, waiting for me to take you, and now I find that you're sleeping around on me! I don't know if I can forgive you for that.

Well, our house is almost ready, so it won't be long before I can take you there and we'll be together like we were meant to be. But you have to get rid of this child. It has no place in our future and I won't allow you to mess anything up.

I expect you to make an appointment today and get everything taken care of. In a few weeks our house will be ready and then you'll be coming with me and I will expect you to no longer be pregnant. If you don't take care of it, I'm afraid I will have to take some rather drastic action that I would really prefer not to. But don't think that I won't do it. I will do whatever is necessary to ensure our future is perfect.

The letter was unsigned. My hand was shaking as I shuffled through to the pictures. The first was of me being carried into the bonds office by Lester once while I was on bed rest but demanded I go somewhere, since it was driving me crazy. Lester had just made some comment about what Lula was wearing and I had my arms around his neck, looking up into his face and laughing at his comment.

The next picture was of Valerie, picking her kids up from school in California. She had one arm around Angie while Mary Alice skipped alongside them. I could feel the bile rising but I forced myself to hold it back and picked the last picture up.

This was of my parents. I had no idea when it had been taken, but it was daylight and you could see through their front window. They were stood in the middle of the living room, dancing, my father holding my mother close. It looked like they were in love and I had had no idea that they were like that with one another, but I could tell it was a fairly recent picture.

Black dots were dancing in my vision and I could hear bells clanging. Then I got tunnel vision and there was a rushing sound, and then everything went black.

Chapter Twenty-four

_(Lester's POV)_

I was exhausted as I drove back into the RangeMan building. I'd been at the hospital since three in the morning, and it was now nearly eleven in the evening. I hadn't eaten, I hadn't slept and I was still worried about Dan, although not as worried as I had been. His surgery had been good and the doctors were hopeful he would make a full recovery.

I slumped against the wall of the elevator as it carried me upstairs. I'd get something quick to eat, shower, fall into bed and probably sleep for a week. Tank wouldn't let me work for a few days, not until Dan was doing better and I wouldn't be so preoccupied.

When I pushed the door open Steph was collapsed on the floor between the couch and the kitchen. I went straight back out into the hallway and started hammering on Bobby's door. I didn't really have much medical knowledge, and certainly nothing that extended to pregnant women. I wasn't sure Bobby knew much about that either, but he'd know more than I did.

'What the hell do you want?' he demanded as he pulled the door open, dressed in evidently hastily-donned sweatpants.

'It's Steph. She's collapsed on my floor.' He shoved me out of the way and hurried into my apartment. I followed close behind him. He was already crouched on the floor next to her, checking her pulse.

'Go and get Tank. I think she has a problem,' Bobby snapped out in a voice I didn't even think about disobeying. He indicated a piece of paper and several pictures. I left him to take care of Steph and tried to remember where Tank was supposed to be – the control room, I think.

I took the elevator up, fidgeting nervously. If it had been a threatening letter and the pictures had freaked her out, maybe she'd just fainted. But I didn't know that for sure, and I was already worried about Ric, Diego and Dan.

Tank looked up as I stepped out of the elevator and got up from the monitors he was watching. He called Archer over to watch while he talked to me.

'How's Dan?' he asked.

'The surgery went well, he should recover,' I answered quickly. 'But I found Steph collapsed on my floor. Bobby's with her, but she had some pictures, and there was what might have been a letter. He thought you should see.'

He issued a few instructions to the men to cover for him and we headed back to my apartment. Bobby had managed to wake Steph up and she was lying on the couch, a glass of water in her hand. She looked up when we came in but didn't smile. I went and crouched next to her.

'How are you feeling?' I asked softly.

'I'm ok. Bobby doesn't think there'll be any damage to the babies, but he wants me to see Nessa just to check. I must have been out for a little while.' Relief washed over me. I don't know what I'd do if someone else in my family was in danger. And I considered Steph a part of my family even though she wasn't officially.

Tank was looking at the papers that had been on the floor. His expression was carefully guarded but tense, for one who knew him well enough to read him. I rose to my feet and went to see what they were.

The first picture was of Steph's parents in their living room, dancing together. The second was of a woman I didn't recognise with two children. The last was of Steph and I, as I carried her into the bonds office a few weeks ago. There was also a letter. Tank handed it to me and I read it quickly.

I felt rage bubble up inside me. Steph had enough to worry about right now, she didn't need this as well. I wanted to find whoever had written it and give them the slowest, most painful death I could imagine. And my imagination was good after all the things I'd seen in the milita–

'Lester.' Tank's low voice brought me back to reality with a snap. 'Bobby, is Steph ok now?' he asked when he was satisfied that I was paying attention again.

'Yes. Like she said, I think it would be a good idea for Nessa to check her tomorrow or the next day, but I can't see any lasting damage.'

'Ok. Then you and I will start working on this tonight. I'll send it down to the lab for fingerprinting, but I don't think we'll get anything.'

'But-' I began. I wanted to work on this. I wanted to be a part of the hunt. It was a way to channel the anger I was barely controlling.

'No, Santos. You need to rest. Stay here with Steph, look after her. And get some sleep, you look like hell.' I scowled at Tank and then yawned to prove his point. He and Bobby chuckled as I glared at them. 'Steph, I recognise your parents, but who's the other woman?'

'My sister, Valerie, with her two children, Angie and Mary Alice. They live in California.' Oh shit. That was not good. It meant either that the stalker had travelled to California to get the pictures, which perhaps wouldn't be too bad, or it meant that the stalker had contacts in California, which was very bad. I yawned again and almost swayed on my feet.

'Lester, let us handle this. You need to sleep,' Tank told me. I nodded vaguely and moved towards the couch. I lifted Steph gently and carried her over to the bed.

'I'm just gonna have a shower and something to eat,' I told her. 'I won't be long.' She nodded but didn't say anything. Bobby and Tank moved closer to her, presumably to ask a couple more questions, while I disappeared into the bathroom.

I took a quick, hot shower and realised I'd forgotten to take any pyjamas in with me. I shrugged and wrapped a towel around my waist. When I came out of the bathroom, Tank and Bobby had gone and Steph was on her side, under the covers. Her jaw dropped when she saw me.

'Sorry,' I muttered, quickly heading into the closet. I pulled on a pair of sweats, put the towel back in the bathroom and went into the kitchen. What could I make in about two seconds? If it took much longer I'd probably fall asleep before it was done.

I decided on just some toast. I couldn't be bothered to make anything more than that. I scarfed it down, chugged a glass of water and went to brush my teeth. Steph hadn't moved by the time I came out of the bathroom again.

I crawled into bed and didn't even think before wrapping my arms around Steph and pulling her close to me. There was usually some kind of contact between us, but not this much.

'W-what are you doing?' she asked.

'I just need to hold you, assure myself that you're all right. Too many people in my family are in danger,' I murmured, already half asleep. Steph was silent for a while, eventually slipping her arms around my back and nestling her head against me under my chin.

'You consider me a part of your family?' she asked quietly, her voice confused and something else I was too tired to try to identify.

'Of course,' I mumbled back. Sleep was pulling at me and my mind was fuzzy with it. Steph was quiet again and if she had anything else to say, I wasn't awake to hear it.


End file.
